Reading Frederick Douglas was an eye opener. First off, him not knowing his birthday or even how old his was was completely insane to me. I mean, I love my birthday and I would be so upset never knowing when it was. The descriptions of the brutal force used by plantation owners was great was amazing, even though it wasn't anything I didn't know before. But once again, I got the most out of the in class discussion. I really liked how we all talked about the reasons why the masters were the way they were, and the politics behind slaves.
What I got out of this piece was the way we could draw conclusions from Douglas' writings, I found it so interesting that we could see a transformation right in front of our eyes. At first, we saw Douglas with nearly no emotion. He recalls his mother's death, and how he never felt a connection to her, and didn't even seem effected by her death. Then, we see when he moved to Baltimore, he starts realizing that slavery is wrong- that being a slave for life is not something he wants to be. We see him learn about abolitionist, and we know as readers that Fredrick Douglas became one of the most powerful abolitionists in history.
Another thing I found interesting was the language Douglas used, he was straight foward, and not very graphic, but the mental images you got were disturbing enough. I couldn't have imagined if he had used extremely graphic language, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much.
Basically, I really enjoy the class discussions, debating the stereotypes of the south, the unjust treatment of the slave owners, and the reson why slaves were important.
3 comments:
I think that Douglas' descripions were very graphic. Reading them made me sick to my stomach (I actually had to put the book down and take a break a few times). I understand where you are coming from though, they could have been worse.
I also liked how you could see Douglas' writing progress as he learned and became a "human." I think it was really interesting that in the beginning, there was no emotion. It was like he was not a person, just as the slave holders wanted to keep it. The more and more education that Douglas recieved, the more of a person he appeared to be (mainly because he learned to show emotions). This is interesting becaus that was just the slave holders reasoning behind keeping them educated.
Good points! (p.s. I can see you! haha)
I agree that Douglass's writing allowed us to see his transformation right before our eyes. Through each section as he learned something new or met someone new his writing style underwent a slight change. In the beginning Douglass wrote with no emotion, he was completely detached from his surroundings but as he met new people and especially once he learned what abolition meant and the idea of freedom enter his mind, he slowly began to feel more emotion. I though one of the most powerful sections was when Douglass is learning to read and write and he learns that there are ways to escape and that he wouldn't have to be a slave. This is the first time that he shows real emotion and that is anger. Douglass becomes angry about slavery and hates his life, this was so powerful to read. It's like someone who hasn't spoken in a long time and finally they do speak and their first words are screaming. It's a little shocking.
I think also that Frederick Douglas's piece was really good as well as really descriptive. One of my issues i had with the piece was also him saying that he didn't know when his birthday was. I like you really wouldn't know what to do because i also love my birthday and to not know how old i am would be really disturbing. I think that it's interesting to as the story goes on to see the different emotions that we get out of Frederick as his life as a slave continues on. I mean first there isn't really any emotion and then when he goes to Baltimore it starts to show a little bit more and as the story continues it gets even greater. His writings were really good and i like how he kept us interested with the descriptive scenes that were basically just the truth.
Post a Comment