Group Lesson for Learning to Read by Frederick Douglass

Part I (Discussion only, no writing necessary)

Each student reads his/her journal about a first reading experience.

After listening to everyone’s journal entry, answer the following questions:

What do your experiences have in common?

Compare and contrast your experiences to F. Douglass’s experience.

In our world today, name a group of people who are still denied the education of learning to read and write. Why are they denied this right? What would happen if they could read and write?

Part II (Discussion only, no writing necessary)

Take out your copy of Learning to Read and Write and complete the following:

Share your thoughts, reactions, or reflections on the essay.

Share one passage you highlighted and explain why you chose it.

Share one example of unusual word choice you identified.

Part III (One set of written answers required for the group)

The rest of the work on this page must be written on loose leaf paper and turned in at the end of the hour. Take turns writing the answer to each question. I should see all group members’ handwriting.

  1. What example of irony do you find in the last two lines of the opening paragraph?
  2. The opening paragraph establishes the master-slave content of this essay. How would you describe the tone? Does Douglass sound bitter?
  3. What is the purpose of paragraph 3?
  4. Identify the allusion in paragraph 2. What effect does this allusion have on the reader?
  5. List three metaphors in paragraph 6. What do they have in common or how are they different from one another? What effect do they have on the reader? How do they further explain the writer’s meaning?
  6. Identify the personification in paragraph 6. What effect does it have on the reader? How does it further explain the writer’s meaning?
  7. What is the main message of paragraph 6?
  8. Douglass says that at times he felt that learning to read was “a curse rather than a blessing”. What does he mean?

Part IV

Answer the multiple choice questions together. Discuss choices and make a decision as a group.