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Reading skills and strategies
Developing of reading skills
Reading skills and strategies
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According to the New York City writing project at Lehman College ,“... Reading, writing and thinking are interrelated activities that contribute to the student’s success in school, college, the community and the workplace.” Reading and writing and thinking are associated with each other and can actually help people reach success through the power of reflection. Reflection is being able to think of our past and present experience and really analyze how we can become better. Reflection also allows one to better understand what is going on around us. Frederick Douglass and Amy Tan’s literacy and language allowed them to achieve success through reflection. Frederick Douglass was a slave that learned how to read and write even besides the …show more content…
In the other hand he did achieve success through reflection because he was really realizing what what the situation he and his fellow slaves were experience. “As I writhed under it, 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,with ot remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit” Here we can see that through his knowledge it began to make him more aware about what was happening but it also caused him to reflect on the situation he was in. He at one point believed that they may have not been a remedy for the condition that he was in. However, Douglass started to hear that the word abolished is mentioned a lot even though he did not know the exact word he was curious. For instance, “ I didn 't know what was to be abolished. Here I was perplexed. I did not dare to ask anyone about its meaning,for I was satisfied that it was something they wanted me to know very little about. After a patient waiting, I got one of our city papers, containing an account of the number of petitions from the north,praying for the abolition of slavery..” Later on it then states that he finally was able to understand and it allowed him to reflect and be able to see a solution that can make the lives of him and his fellow slaves better. “ From this time I understood the …show more content…
It had helped the student but others may think it is not important and may be confusing to students but that is not true. For instance “ Teachers realized that they needed to spend time teaching students how to reflect. They asked students, "What does a reflection look like when it really tells you something about the experience?" After considerable discussion—and after considering models of reflection from students and published authors—the students began to understand what was called for. Reflection was not a time for testimonials about how good or bad the experience was. Instead, reflection was the time to consider what was learned from the experience. Reflection was a time to describe what students saw in their own work that changed, needed to change, or might need to be described so another person might understand its meaning.” Even though it was hard at first for the teachers to teach their students how to reflect they wanted the students to reflect on what was learned from the experience. Reflection had to be something more dynamic than just looking at the good and bad. Therefore literacy leads to reflection and as a result can allow one to achieve their own
From an early age, Frederick Douglass refused to accept the life of confinement into which he was born. The way he learned to write is a fine example of his exceptional resourcefulness and persistence to rise above. In The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Douglass's depiction of his self-education can be found on page 94...
Everyone remembers when they learned to read and write some more than others. Even well known people like Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X. They wrote narratives, “Learning to Read And Write” by Frederick Douglass and “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X, to show us when, where, and how they learned to read and write. Both authors go through struggles that we would never think could or would happen. Even though they go through struggles they still became eager to learn more to better themselves. It gave them power they never thought they could achieve. They have many similar and different trials that they went through so they could learn how to read and write.
Frederick Douglass was brought from Africa as a baby to the U.S. to become a slave during the 17th century. In his narrative book “Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass,” he used rhetoric to provoke reader’s emotions, and inspiration of hope when everything isn’t good. Douglass used the rhetoric appeal pathos to show people how horrible he was treated as a slave, and how he kept up his motivation about becoming free from slavery. In addition, he also used pathos so effective that readers can see his experiences in front of themselves.
“Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read” address their abilities of being self taught to read and write. A deficiency of education makes it difficult to traverse life in any case your race. Being an African American while in a dark period of mistreatment and making progress toward an advanced education demonstrates extraordinary devotion. Malcolm X seized “special pains” in searching to inform himself on “black history” (Malcolm X 3). African Americans have been persecuted all through history, yet two men endeavor to demonstrate that regardless of your past, an education can be acquired by anybody. Douglass and Malcolm X share some similarities on how they learned how to read and write as well
In order for Douglass to reach his goal of becoming a free man he thought the only way out was education. He needed to learn how to read, write, and think for himself about what slavery was. Since literacy and education were so powerful to Frederick he persevered to get himself the education he wanted. …. Douglass knew it wouldn’t be easy, but that didn’t stop him. Douglass realized the “ conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with a high hope, and
In The Narrative of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, an African American male describes his day as a slave and what he has become from the experience. Douglass writes this story to make readers understand that slavery is brutalizing and dehumanizing, that a slave is able to become a man, and that he still has intellectual ability even though he is a slave. In the story, these messages are shown frequently through the diction of Frederick Douglass.
Education is a privilege. The knowledge gained through education enables an individual’s potential to be optimally utilized owing to training of the human mind, and enlarge their view over the world. Both “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass himself and “Old Times on the Mississippi” by Mark Twain explore the idea of education. The two autobiographies are extremely different; one was written by a former slave, while the other was written by a white man. Hence, it is to be expected that both men had had different motivations to get an education, and different processes of acquiring education. Their results of education, however, were fairly similar.
Literacy plays an important part in helping Douglass achieve his freedom. Learning to read and write enlightened his mind to the injustice of slavery; it kindled in his heart longings for liberty. Douglass’s skills proved instrumental in his attempts of escape and afterwards in his mission as a spokesman against slavery.
Slave narratives were one of the first forms of African- American literature. The narratives were written with the intent to inform those who weren’t aware of the hardships of slavery about how badly slaves were being treated. The people who wrote these narratives experienced slavery first hand, and wanted to elicit the help of abolitionists to bring an end to it. Most slave narratives were not widely publicized and often got overlooked as the years went by; however, some were highly regarded and paved the way for many writers of African descent today.
After reading Frederick Douglass’s narrative of slavery, I couldn’t help but stop and try to gather my thoughts in any way possible. It was not the first time I had read the narrative, but this time around Douglass’s words hit me much harder. Perhaps, it was that I read the narrative in a more critical lens, or possibly it was just that I am older and more mature now from the last time I read it, but whatever the reason, I can confidently say reading the narrative has changed my heart and opened my eyes in many ways. I have always been aware of the injustices that slavery encompassed and of course like many other people, I have been taught about slavery in a historical narrative my entire life. But, Frederick Douglass’s narrative does more than just provide a historical perspective in seeing the injustices in slavery. His narrative asks the reader to look directly into the eyes of actual slaves and realize their very heart beat and existence as humans. Douglass humanizes the people of whom the terrible acts we acted upon that we learn about as early as elementary school. It is because of this that I decided to write this poem. Reading the narrative made me really think about Douglass’s journey and the story he tells on his road to freedom. I felt as if he was really speaking to me and, and in turn I wanted to give Douglass a voice in my own writing.
Gaining mental emancipation also made him a man. He had the power of knowledge and yet he didn't know the impact of being literate. He wasn't ready to have his world open right in front of him. Being able to read opened Douglass' eyes to what slavery really was. "He got the bold denunciation of slavery, and a powerful vindication of human rights."*(278) He saw things that he would have never seen if he had remained ignorant. He saw all the horrors and sadness of his life as a slave. He wasn't quite ready for the harsh realities that he was then exposed to. He felt that his master, Master Hugh, was right. Douglass learning to read brought him the discontentment, torment and anguish that Master Hugh said would follow if a slave learned how to read.* (279) The visions that Douglass saw was really affecting him. He saw things he never saw before. Dou...
The tone established in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is unusual in that from the beginning to the end the focus has been shifted. In the beginning of the narrative Douglass seems to fulfill every stereotypical slavery theme. He is a young black slave who at first cannot read and is very naïve in understanding his situation. As a child put into slavery Douglass does not have the knowledge to know about his surroundings and the world outside of slavery. In Douglass’ narrative the tone is first set as that of an observer, however finishing with his own personal accounts.
Fredrick Douglass lived a life of sorrow, pain and cruelty. Yet, as a fine gentleman that he was, he managed to find the joy in his childhood. He remembered the marvelous memories he encountered when he was taught how to read and write and that’s what kept him going. Writing changed his life for the better. It encouraged him to keep on doing what he loved even if he was constantly being put down and discouraged. The love for writing saved Douglass from slavery. Even if Douglass passed on, his writing remains and continues to be legendary.
Douglass was not aware of what slaves were and why they were treated in a bad condition before he learns how to read. He was deeply saddened upon discovering the fact that slaves were not given the rights every human being should have. In an effort to clarify Douglass’s feelings of anguish, he states: “In moments of agony, I envied my fellow slaves for their stupidity” (Douglass 146). The fact that other slaves are content with their lives is what brings awareness to him because he knows that he is stripped of basic human rights. He envies his fellow slaves due to the reason that they are pleased with the life he cannot live to like anymore. Also, he is often wishing he never learned how to read because he doesn’t want to burden about his life. Douglass knows more about the disturbing conditions than most of the slaves around him, but he greatly regrets it. Before he started reading, he lived very much in contentment and now he cannot stand the fact of being
In “Learning to Read and Write” by Frederick Douglass, Douglass was eager to find anyone who said the word abolition or abolitionist and would listen in on the conversation. He tried everything to find out what it had meant since the dictionary offered no real help. When he got hold of a newspaper, he finally figured out what the word had meant and every time he heard it spoken, he would listen in to see if it was something important about slaves. One day he went down to the docks and met two irishmen. After he helped them with moving an item, they both informed him to run north to escape and become free. Douglass acted as if he did not know what he was talking about as he feared that they had bad intentions. He remembered what the two had