Research Paper on Learning to Read
"Learning to Read" by "Fredrick Douglas" , is a picture of pathetic emotions, fruits of hard toiled work, the voice of the craving soul, and the victory of the truth -all fragmented in words. The title itself is expository, dissecting the matter into simple and subtle way. Douglas has mingled the concept of slavery and education, including the personal aroma of the language and also addressing the problems of the minority. Thus, bringing out the burning issue of the slavery and emphasizing the importance of education in general. Emancipation of proclamation which was written in 1863, by Abraham Lincoln, was a written consent to the African American signing their freedom. In spite of this action, taken by the higher authority, the slavery did not vanish; in fact there prevailed the Jim Crow laws provoking the abhorrence to the peak, after 100 years of this honor by Lincoln. Chaos, commotion and agitation were in the air, and in this environment there was a lotus in the dirt which was called Douglas. There are always criteria's of distinguishing the good from the bad, which we call categories. In today's world, education occupies the first and foremost place in the list. Douglas here draws the reader's attention to the same id
An economist would describe this situation as the "diminishing marginal utility", in layman's terms, more the production or opportunities, less the value of the same, as it is exists in abundance. We bind ourselves in the chains of ignorance, we choose to live in the shadow of the unknown prophecies -waiting for the supernatural to come and knock our doors, but Douglas on the contrary was ignorant and that's why chained. "From this time I understood the words abolition and abolitionist, and always drew near when that word was spoken expecting to hear something of importance to myself and fellow-slaves. The light broke in upon me by degrees." This is a perfect example of change that has occurred in the priorities of the man in olden days and today's man. That little kid because of not knowing the meaning of the word abolition was ignorant, but today in spite of learning the true purpose of that word, we do not perform the needful, hence we choose to remain ignorant. From the beginning, education has played a vital role in composing a person's character. Some men defined it as the salt of the Earth and some defined it as the gem of the soul. As Shakespeare would say it "I came, I saw, I conquered," would suit men like Douglas, who grabbed the minute to create the major. As the common belief goes, the youth can reshape the world, since it has the energy and the power to tilt the world towa
Some common words found in the essay are:
Darwin's Theory, Luther King, Fredrick Douglas, Lincoln Chaos, African American, Jim Crow, Abraham Lincoln, douglas describes, importance education,
Approximate Word count = 943
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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