Part A
The quote that was meaning in the story would be” I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the
horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out”. (pg 1083) The meaning of the first sentence would be that he was angry with the information he had from reading considering education to be a curse rather than a gift. The second sentence would mean than he could see the problems are the world that were happening but he didn’t know what to do about cause he didn’t have the ability to or i guess he didn’t know how to. Considering that he was shocked that slaves were being kidnapped from their homes and given no privileges or worth, the last sentence would indicate that he felt helpless.
Part B:
One thing that has been hard on me during my educational journey would be probably overthinking. This is because so much has happened in the last 3 years. Like there was so much that was happening and it just made me overthink a lot and it caused me anxiety and depression. For example covid, people dying, wars happening, fights, and so much more. All of these things have brought a bad impact on my life and probably on everyone’s life. It wasn’t easy to go through all of this. Also school got closed cause of covid and because of that I think many people didn’t really care about education and it really just ruined my time of studying.
One strategy I’ve developed to increase my resilience would be not thinking a lot and just accepting the things that are happening and also being more confident around my surroundings. I also have learned that it does take time to see a change and i just had to accept that to understand. Also I’ve learned to build a strong connection with my family members and with my friends. They have supported me a lot throughout all of this and I think without them this wouldn’t have been possible.
Your analysis of the quote in Part A is a good interpretation of Frederick Douglass’s experience of learning to read and write. This highlights the power of education, as it can bring both enlightenment and frustration.
In Part B, you describe your own struggles with overthinking, anxiety, and depression, which were caused by the events of the past few years, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of schools. This shows that you have a good understanding of the importance of mental health and the strategies that can be used to maintain it.
Part A: ok, I can see you got it, but look at the Announcements to see that I put up an example of this kind of HW. I am asking you to translate the writer’s words — sentence by sentence in your own words.
Part B: this shows you are a deep thinker! Yes worrying about big evetns and feeling fatalistic – I get it. It’s hard not to take life so seriously when there is so much bad happening. Especially during covid. I too got over thinking and fell into kind of a depression. And the isolation diidn’t help. We are social beings. So I hope you will make contacts and friends in this class. I want us to feel like we are a community of writers together on this journey that is ENG 1101!
Good Job!