Monday, October 4, 2010

Frederick Douglass Chapter 1

The purpose of the letters of introduction would obviously be to introduce you to "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" and to chapter one. It allows you to know what the narrative will be about before you jump right into it. You will know that he was a slave before eventually becoming free, but the introduction tells you that this is what it is about, and that it is a reliable source because he has actually met Frederick Douglass.
 From chapter one i can't tell if it is chronological order yet, but it may be since it was mainly about him as a child. Often times that format can be boring, but is helpful when trying to learn more about the person. I can tell from the first chapter that this book is not gonna be all that happy, and is going to be filled with hardship. Douglass already spoke about being separated from his mother and of her dieing, so I can tell the story is only going to get worse, most likely right before it gets better. The "getting better" meaning when he becomes free.
But still the purpose of him writing this wasn't because it had a happy ending, because with all he's been through, there will be no happy ending. He still has not yet met or even known who is father was, known his actual name, or been able to get the imagery of his aunt being whipped right before his eyes out of his head after all those years.
This narrative is the transition from westward expansion to the civil war, and so far i think this will be a good read seeing as it was during the time, and by a person involved with slaves and the civil war.

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