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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
An inspiring account of growing up as a slave. The difficulties he went through to learn how to read were really interesting and also the events that led up to his eventual escape.
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Had to read this in middle school or high school and the passages about learning to read stuck in my head at the time, as it was the first narrative I had read by an escaped slave. Such a passion for learning, risking a beating and potentially death to do it, and there I was in school complaining about homework! Rereading this now I found particularly eloquent his condemnation of the southern version of Christianity, the outrageous hypocrisy of whipping people during the week and praying in church on Sundays. Will read his later books as this one was short and he was still young when he wrote it.
challenging
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
"Revivals of religion and revivals in the slave- trade go hand in hand together."
Historical and insightful, Douglass educates us on why we should stay in school, detest religious extremism, and what the Roman "bread and circuses" was really about.
Historical and insightful, Douglass educates us on why we should stay in school, detest religious extremism, and what the Roman "bread and circuses" was really about.
Less a narrative of his life, more of clear first hand picture of slavery and slaveholders from a slave's point of view.
Amazingly powerful and true stories of slaves escaping brutal people and circumstances. Harrowing but important.
Frederick Douglass became famous because of his oratory and his three autobiographies. This is the first, and covers approximately the first 30 years of his life, from his birth as a slave in Maryland, through his self-education, his development as a skilled laborer (he caulked ships in Baltimore) to his (obfuscated) escape and settlement in Rhode Island.
It's a short book, and Douglass is an excellent writer. Sadly there are two rather congratulatory and pompous forwards, which don't add anything and probably turn off readers by the score. I suggest skipping them and read them (if you must) after Douglass's story.
Douglass is a fantastic abolitionist and a sharp critic of hypocrisy.
Recommended for people who think Civil Rights began with Rosa Parks and MLK. We truly stand on the shoulders of giants.
It's a short book, and Douglass is an excellent writer. Sadly there are two rather congratulatory and pompous forwards, which don't add anything and probably turn off readers by the score. I suggest skipping them and read them (if you must) after Douglass's story.
Douglass is a fantastic abolitionist and a sharp critic of hypocrisy.
Recommended for people who think Civil Rights began with Rosa Parks and MLK. We truly stand on the shoulders of giants.
challenging
informative
tense
A Vital firsthand account airing the human voice of an American hero. & No better testament to the power of reading.
Don't be intimidated any longer by the "required reading" designation of what is of course the heaviest of subjects. This is short and accessible. You will be glad you picked it up and wonder why you waited so long.
Don't be intimidated any longer by the "required reading" designation of what is of course the heaviest of subjects. This is short and accessible. You will be glad you picked it up and wonder why you waited so long.