Narrative of Life of Frederick Douglass

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Published in 1845, ‘Narrative of life of Frederick Douglass an American slave written by himself’ is still the most highly acclaimed American autobiography ever written. It was published seven years after Douglass escaped from his life as a slave in Maryland. It describes his experience of being slave and his psychological insights into the slave-master relationship. The main focus is on ‘How he learn to read and write ‘and ‘the pain of slavery.’ The goal of this paper is to bring more insight analysis of his narrative life through the most famous two chapter’s in which he defines, “How he learn to read and write” and “The pain of slavery.” To achieve this goal, the paper is organized into four main sections. First, author background and introduction, second summary of chapter VII and chapter VIII and the last analysis of chapter VII and VIII. Summary: Chapters VII–VIII Douglass spent seven years in master Hugh`s house and learnt to educate himself secretly where slaves were kept illiterate. But soon he was unhappy as he saw the new and wretched world for him. From newspapers, he realized about the enormity of people enslaved. He was informed about the abolitionist movement in North and an Irish playwright and politician Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan and his struggles for catholic emancipation and human rights. He then ran away to north at the age of twelve. Chapter VI deals with his master Hugh Auld`s forbiddance to teach Douglass to read, Chapter VII elaborates the idea that with education comes enlightenment specifically about appreciative and wrong nature of slavery. His encounter with the Columbian Crator represents the main events of his educational and philosophical growth. He then had the clear articulation of ... ... middle of paper ... ...glass to picture the atrocities of slavery. It not only presents the events in his life that lead to his escape from slavery but also the general dehumanizing effects of slavery for both slaves and slaveholders. Works Cited Chua, John. "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave." Cliff Notes. N.p.. Web. 19 Mar 2014. . Douglass, Frederick. "Learning to Read and Write." Trans. Array The Writer`s Presence. . Seventh Edition. New York: Bedford/St Martin`s, 2012. 86-92. Print. Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass. Oxford University Press, 1999. Print. Douglass, Frederick. "A Short Biography of Frederick Douglass." Frederick Douglass Comes to Life. Fremarjo Enterprises, Inc. Web. 19 Mar 2014. .

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