Part 1
“My mistress was, as I have said, a kind and tender-hearted woman; and in the simplicity of her soul she commenced, when I first went to live with her, to treat me as she supposed one human being ought to treat another. In entering upon the duties of a slaveholder, she did not seem to perceive that I sustained to her the relation of a mere chattel”(paragraph 2).A quick dramatic flip of a coin that Fredrick Douglass went through in his youth, noticeable to even the youngest of the other slaves. The wife of Mr.Hughes that had once so generously begun teaching him how to read and write slowly started to deny him the opportunity he had enjoyed. Douglass had no choice but to seek education elsewhere in his small world that already disliked his kind and disliked the idea of his people being educated even more. He began befriending “all the little white boys whom I met in the street” carefully and cleverly turning them into teachers making sure to obtain information at different times and different places whenever he went on errands always carrying his book as well as bread.Knowing the boys would be hungry due to a life of poverty,Fredrick would trade bread to the hungry little white boys for teaching him a new word and it’s meaning. When Fredrick says,”learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing”(paragraph 5) it’s the truth. His eyes were opened to the reality and severity of his situation as well as every other slave. In reading he had been learning what injustice was happening to his people all around the world. Douglass states”freedom…was ever present to torment me”(same paragraph),meaning he yearns to be truly free, the itch he can see and feel but not reach.
Part 2
“I would sometimes say to them I wished I could be as free as they would be when they got to be men.”(paragraph 4) The significance to me in this line I’d say would be not just the powerful statement alone but the emotion you feel from it. This line helps to show the reader the perspective of the life of a slave and the life of a white man but vaguely. Touching on the differences they still have even while both being poor and hungry.
This HW is late.
IN Part Two:
YOu chose this Douglass quote: “I would sometimes say to them I wished I could be as free as they would be when they got to be men.”
Instead, aim to select quotes that have deeper meaning and can be analyzed in the way I am demonstrating in class. Look at the quotes from the readings that I chose to analyze with the class. These quotes are rich and meaningful and written with writerly elements. In contrast, your chosen quote is factual; the meaning is obvious.
YOu will get better with more practice!