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Analena Jurić
Grant Currier
English Composition 1
6 November 2017
The value of Education
An education is something that one can keep with them for a lifetime. In order to gain a full successful life, one must first gain the background knowledge on how to do so. Education is one of the most important tools that a society possesses. How much one gets from their education comes from how much effort they put into it. Unfortunately, nowadays kids growing up take the education they are being offered for granted. Some students now do not live up to their full potential because some just choose not to. They are just not as fascinated or eager to learn like students were back then. Not all people understand the inevitable role of education, some people
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believe education is not important while other believe you need an education to have more choices in life. Modern attitudes now differ very much from Frederick Douglas’ “How to Read” Education now is less valued but there is a lot one can take away and gain from understanding past generations’ appreciation for education. In Frederick Douglas’ narrative essay, “Learning to Read” he explains how he taught himself how to read and write.
Sadly, his slave owners did not want him to earn an education. Now not many children take the time to learn how to read or write for educational purposes, in today’s society it is so that way they can use the latest technology and know how to. To a lot of students now education is not that important to them. Back then some children were not allowed to go receive an education and were forbidden to by their parents. Students and children now when they are told to get an education and go to school will refuse to. Children take the education and schooling they are being offered and surrounded by for granted. They do not realize how lucky they are that education is offered to anybody and everybody now, no matter who they are. Back then it was a lot harder to obtain an education and go to school, children were willing to do anything to gain some sort of knowledge. To achieve and get an education sometimes one needs to get past some obstacles throughout the …show more content…
journey. Although all the obstacles that his slave owners put Frederick through were not easy, he did not let them stop him from achieving his aspiration to read. Frederick looked for ways to learn how to read and also write to gain and have an education. Students now have to be pushed to go to school and sometimes they just do not want to. They just give up and do not realize the true value of the opportunity being offered to them. The more some are pushed, the more they will not want it. Frederick tries to enlighten that education and freedom are rights that every human being should have. Education gives people the opportunity to identify themselves to see who they really are. Learning in school has lost its appeal to students. One’s education advancements could probably be the most important decision in his or her life. The education someone receives can help someone change the world for the better. Depending on what someone is taught they can either build a better future or destroy what is left of the world. Education is connected to almost any aspect of life whether it be about health, politics, economy, or the environment. Someone who is taught about certain diseases and how to prevent themselves from being infected by certain diseases have a higher chance of avoiding illness and staying healthy. Also, people with an education are more tolerant of others around them and understand their surroundings and the world they live in more. Through education people can learn about different cultures and traditions in the world. Back then due to ignorance people were unaware of what was going on around them and who they were truly surrounded by. This wide exposure to the world and life enhances the knowledge one has and prepares them to face new challenges that come their way in life and better themselves as individuals and gain a better understanding of certain things in life. Technology has made a huge impact on education, and technological advancement in education has done nothing but improve the quality of education. Back then students used to carry around dozens of books for classes, but now many schools provide computers or tablets. Having these computers and tablets give students access to hundreds or books at a time. Teachers in the past used to write down problems and questions on a chalkboard for students to copy and then complete for homework, unfortunately sometimes a student might not have been able to write down all the homework or parts to certain questions. Now teachers can print or upload homework online for students to have access to so they can view their homework anytime they want and complete it. Since most families have access to internet in their house, parents can easily email teachers asking about their child’s progress in the class, or a teacher can email parents with any concerns about the child. Being able to communicate so easily back and forth can help a child improve and work harder if they are struggling so they can be pushed at school and at home. The encyclopedia was very important back then, it was the only way people were able to find out certain information. Today there is Google, a simple search on the internet and the answer to one’s question pops up in seconds along with facts and information about a million other topics. Technology has made obtaining an education so easy, there should not be any excuses as to why someone would not want one or put in any effort toward one. In today’s society education not only plays a key role in both finding and keeping a job, it also can open doors to more rewarding higher paying jobs.
There are many jobs out there in the world that have minimum educational requirements, without meeting those requirements one might not get the job they were hoping for. Since technology plays a huge role in almost every work place, education is important so that way one can understand how to read and use the technology at the certain workplace. The longer one is in school the better the writer, reader, and communicator they will be which will make someone a stronger candidate for a certain position. Also, once someone has found a job they can continue the benefits of education and be eligible for more prestigious job positions that are higher paying. Back then there were not as many technological advancements so the amount of jobs available back then were not as high as the amount available in today’s world. Jobs back then did not require an education so people were not motivated to go out and get one, today if someone did not have an education they most likely would not have a
job. Education has played a major role in today’s society, because it provides the world with knowledge for the future. Unfortunately, the value of education to people has lessened throughout the years. Education has a positive effect on people can help anyone reach their dreams. It also paves the way toward a good career and successful life and broaden their horizons. Everything the world has today was created based on the knowledge people obtained throughout their life with the education they received. Without education, life would be disastrous and detrimental. It builds confidence to make important decisions in life and help people learn to accept the successes and fails in life. An educated person has the ability to change the world. Works Cited Douglass, Fredrick. “Learning to Read.”The Norton Reader, 14th Edition.
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.
In Fredrick Douglas’s excerpt. "Learning to Read and Write," he describes the variousway and teachers that assisted him to succeeding how to read and write. He did this despite nothaving a teacher, as his mistress that he lived with for seven years forbidden to help Fredrick anyfurther. This essay is rich with well-executed literary tools that serve the real struggle Fredrickendured in succeeding how to read and write, as well as trying to survive in this time period. It isa very personal excerpt of a troubling time in his life, but also shows how a man was capable ofbecoming the man that he became and a writer with profoundly coherent thoughts. Through theuse of logos, pathos, ethos, and kairos, Fredrick Douglas exhibits his ability to eloquentlyexpress himself and his personal strife.Ethos is ever-present in this essay as Douglas describes that he was interested in learning.For example, when he would be sent off for errands he would carry extra bread with him enoughto share with the "hungry little urchins," in return would give him more valuable "bread ofknowledge" which meant he w...
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
Many people take for grant of the freedom we have, but Douglass shows that having freedom means having the ability to control one’s own destiny. Douglass was a slave who like any other slaves cannot be educated. Douglass finds this out by accident when he overhears the reasons why it was illegal for them to get education- it because the white slave owners did not want slaves to gain knowledge as it will bring disorder and rebel against slavery. As a result of this finding, Douglass seeks out his own education. One of his methods of learning how to read is by exchanging foods for learning to read. During the slavery, poverty also affected all different people, so Douglass would give breads to poor children and for exchange teach Douglass some words. For Douglass learning meant punishments or even death, but he takes the risk and did all he can to gain knowledge because this is the only way he can be free. He demonstrates to people that education is powerful and the way one can truly be self-governed. Douglass story is a reminder to always appreciate education and to take the most out of learning because in the end no one can take away what’s in our
In the pre-Civil War plantations of the South, slaves were forbidden to read or write. In other words, they were forced to be ignorant and locked in mental darkness. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, he writes in dept about his life as a slave in these plantations. After leaning the ABC's and learning to spell words consisting of three or four letters from Ms. Auld, Frederick Douglass illustrates how he secretly taught himself how to read and write using various strategies such as: Learning the letters on the timber at Durgin and Bailey's ship yard, getting lessons from the white boy's he met on the street, Webster's Spelling Book, and master Thomas's copy-book. Frederick Douglass furthermore illustrates how he held his Sabboth School, teaching other slaves how to read and write. Learning to read and write provided Frederick Douglass with the empowerment to free himself from physical and intellectual enslavement.
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 to escape and afterwards in his mission as a spokesman against slavery. Douglass was motivated to learn how to read by hearing his master condemn the education of slaves. Mr. Auld declared that education would “spoil” him and “forever unfit him to be a slave” (2054).
Although Douglass’s primary obstacle to educating himself was not money, he still was challenged by the standards of slavery. The text begins with how the standards of slavery transformed his Mistress from a tender-hearted woman who once treated him like a normal being into a corrupted person who displayed no sign of remorse for her immoral actions. According to Douglass, his Mistress had once educated him. After her transformation, he then recognized that she did every attempt to impede him from education himself. It is evident in the text when he stated:” Nothing seemed to make her more angry than to see me with a newspaper” (Douglass 73). However, despite the challenges that Douglass faced, he managed to find every other alternative to educate himself. Although he lacked the freedom to learn, Douglass lived in a house replete with food and essentials needed to sustain him a comfortable life. In exchange for knowledge, Douglass would offer bread to the white poor children in his neighborhood. Another way that Douglass educated himself was by writing on the Crates in the shipyard. He would observe the men that would write on the timber, labeling them. Lastly, while both Master Hugh and Douglass’s Mistress were gone, he would read books written by Hugh and eventually learned how to write the very same way as his
Fredrick Douglas is a well known figure in the abolishment movement through his narrative “Learning to Read and Write,” Douglas shares his own personal journey of how he learns to read and write. His organization helps the reader get a better grasp of the stages in his life; his innocence, his epiphany, his loathing and finally his determination. Through the use of syntax and diction, metaphors and the use of irony, he portrays the thoughts that went through his mind as a slave.
While knowledge can open many doors for success, it can also put a lock on various ones for people who don’t have an opportunity to practice it. This is portrayed in an essay by Frederick Douglass named Learning to Read and Write. It portrays the hardships he faced and the toll it took on him. Frederick Douglass was a slave who was born in Talbot County Maryland and then became a server for a family in Baltimore. He also became an active participant in the abolitionist movement in 1838. Michael Scot’s response toward Frederick Douglass was that gaining knowledge was more of a dissatisfaction rather than a worthy accomplishment for the reason that education made him realize he had no other option to his condition. For Frederick Douglass, learning
In the essay “Learning to Read and Write,” Frederick Douglass illustrates how he successfully overcome the tremendous difficulties to become literate. He also explains the injustice between slavers and slaveholders. Douglass believes that education is the key to freedom for slavers. Similarly, many of us regard education as the path to achieve a career from a job.
Everybody is different and learn in many different ways as they grow up or the environment they are grown into. I believe education is important for everyone in this world. Not only will a good education will get you a good job, but also very good manners and having respect for others. Learning a good education all depends on the person and the person teaching it. Education to me is hard to explain and hard to even come up with a study method, but that’s just me. We all have our own way in studying and preparing when it comes to a big test. Finding a good study method to be easy is very hard to come up with. Everyone question’s on how we need to educate our youth or how it can easily be done. Before kids go to an actual school,
There is no one single definition for what education really is. Experts and scholars from the beginning have viewed and commented about education in different ways. The definition mostly agreed upon was that education is an acquisition or passing of skills, behavior or knowledge from an institution to another. This institution can either be a person, a school, a family or even the society. If we go in the ancient meaning and the ideology of education, it means to lead out of ignorance. In other words, education or knowledge in this sense was light and education brought the person out of the dark. The purpose and ideology of education is therefore to bring out the potential of a person and pass on knowledge
Education is essential for everyone. Education plays a critical role in the development of a generation of individuals that is virtuous and in turn contributes to the development of good people. Through education, a person is able to develop mentally, but also physically and socially. To the youths, education is important as it helps them to develop the principles of life, enables them to make the correct career decisions and also prepares them in the pursuit of the goals that they may have set for themselves in life. I strongly believe that a good, heck, or even a regular education is a right that cannot be taken away. Education is a right and not a privilege.
Education will help you grow as an individual because the more knowledge you have the better understanding you will have in any given problem that will come your way. It will give you self satisfaction and will boost your self confidence. As an individual I know it will help me in a lot of aspects in my life. It will give me a financial stability because I will be able to land a good job and a high paying salary. I will learn how to spend my money and will learn how to invest it wisely. The more education I have the more respect and acknowledgement I will get from people. Knowledge is really important that is why we need to take it seriously. It is the strong weapon you can have to conquer this complex world. If you have a good education nobody can fool you and you will not tolerate any mistreatment from people. It will give you a better views in life if you are well educated.
In our culture today, there is a huge emphasis on education, especially higher education. Society basically says the more educated you are, the better off you are. That is pretty much true if you live by the means of society. The basic idea that education, especially a college education, is something that people should pursue even into their adult years is not by any means a new idea.