Miranda: English II, Section F

September 27, 2007
Dear Miranda,

I want to tell you about the book “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, and the many lessons that can be learned from the experiences and actions of Frederick Douglass. I think that through this narrative, Douglass presents several invaluable lessons that everyone can learn from. These important values can be valuable in some way to everyone and they can be useful in contemporary issues and situations. Two of these values are especially emphasized in Douglass’ slave narrative: self-assertion and self-empowerment, which are both very valuable in modern society, and they are also very important in my life.
Self-assertion is very important in Douglass’ narrative because it is what drives him to learn to read. Douglass displays self assertion when he teaches himself how to read and write because he is able to overcome all of the obstacles in his path (which include the fact that his master can severely punish him if he finds him trying to become literate, the fact that he has no teacher, and the fact that he must be very careful to learn in complete secrecy), and assert himself and use his own intelligence to teach himself how to read. Self-assertion is very important in society today because it is so easy to sit back and conform to society or go with the flow and get swept away in what everyone else seems to think or believe. It is easy to be the same, but it is hard to be different. Douglass showed that people should be able to assert themselves and take action against what they think is wrong. Douglass wanted to become literate and he felt that it was unfair that the white boys where he lived learned how to read and write in school, while he was forbidden to become literate because of the color of his skin. Douglass asserted himself and took action against what he felt was wrong by teaching himself how to read and write and becoming literate. There have been many instances in my own life in which I wish that I could have been self assertive because I feel that I am the type of person who likes to please people…I like to help people and make them happy. If somebody asks me to do them a favor and I really don’t want to, I am inclined to say yes because I don’t want to disappoint them. Even if I did say no, I would have to justify my reasons for saying no and I would not be satisfied with myself, I would feel very guilty. Quite simply, it is very hard for me to say no and I am not always able to assert myself and tell someone what I really feel or what I really want. If someone asks me to do something, I feel obligated to do it, and if, for some reason or another, I cannot do it, I feel that I have to fall all over myself apologizing. It is really hard for me, and something that I really need to work on. If someone asks me to do something, I have the right to say no. I like helping people and making people happy, and doing what people say, and it is hard for my to go against my instincts to assert myself and just say no. I think that once I am able to overcome my resistance to saying no, it will be easier for me to assert myself and I think that I will become a stronger and more individual person.
The value of self-empowerment is another important trait that was displayed by Douglass on numerous occasions, and basically, at times, it was the only thing that kept him alive. Douglass’ display of self-assertion in teaching himself how to read and write was a major example of his self-empowerment. This was because although he was told that he was less than a white person, he refused to accept that and by asserting himself and becoming literate, Douglass is also able to give himself a sense of power through the action of becoming literate. Being literate gives him more status and helps him to improve his condition, even if only by a little bit. One of the main reasons that slavery was widely accepted in America was because the majority of slaves were illiterate and uneducated and this made them seem like beasts to the white “owners”. It justified the fact that they could beat their slaves and, in many cases, worked them until they dropped, because they saw them as nothing more than animals. Douglass’ literacy made him feel a sense of power over his white owner because he was essentially defying him by becoming literate behind his back, and he also felt that he was defying slavery by going against one of the main principles that justified it (the idea that slaves were like animals). This gave him a sense of power because he was essentially tricking his owner, which made him feel very powerful, almost to the extent that he knew something his owner did not. Perhaps the most important thing that Douglass gained from his self-empowerment of becoming literate was a feeling of self worth. Douglass was really empowered by becoming literate because he was able to recognize that he was taking action against what he felt was wrong which gave him a sense of self worth because he was asserting himself and doing something about what he felt was wrong, instead of just thinking that it was wrong without taking action. The idea of self worth was very important for Douglass, because, ever since he had been a little boy, he had been encouraged not to be different, he had been encouraged to conform to society and behave exactly like everybody else did, because if a slave stepped out of line or tried to be different from everybody else, it would be seen as a form of rebellion, and he would be whipped or severely punished in some way. Douglass had never known how old he was, or when his birthday was. He had never had a close relationship with his mother or his brothers and sisters, or anyone in his family for that matter. Douglass had always lacked a sense of identity, an inner idea of who he was, and the uniformity of all of the slaves and the fact that they were all just put to work only added to his lack of identity and self worth. Douglass says that at a few different times in his life, he considered committing suicide, but he kept pushing on to become literate and his achievement of a feeling of self worth made him feel that he had a purpose in his life, he had an ability to change his life, he was taking action against what he felt was wrong, he was not just conforming to society, he was different, which helped him to overcome his suicidal ideas. A major driving force of why Douglass wanted to learn how to read and write and defy slavery, was the fact that by becoming more literate, he was becoming more intelligent and respectable, and, not only that, he was improving his condition and he was bringing himself closer to escaping slavery and achieving freedom. In terms of my own experiences with self-empowerment, I feel that I am a very positive person, and therefore I have empowering experiences a lot. I feel self empowered when I score a goal in soccer, or I have just finished a run for Cross Country or Track. I feel empowered when I do something that helps the world or someone else, I feel empowered when I run past an old lady in a wheelchair being pushed around by her caretaker and I feel that I am running for myself and for her, because she can’t run anymore. I feel that I have empowering experiences very often, and that my attitude about them, or my take on them, makes them self-empowering, because I am making the decision to be positively affected by these experiences. The idea of self-empowerment can be achieved in many different ways: by achieving a goal that you worked very hard toward, or by feeling that you made a difference, or by understanding that you affected some type of change in the world. The definition of self-empowerment is fairly subjective, but to me, and in modern society as well, it is a very important quality because the idea of being powerful and being able to make your voice heard, as well as the idea that you can affect change in the world, and in your own life, is very powerful and deep.
My goals in terms of achieving self-assertion and self-empowerment begin with discovering what I believe in, and then I want to make my voice heard. I want to make my voice heard by making little differences and big differences. I want to make my voice heard by being different, like Douglass, and not conforming to society. I want to make my voice heard by discovering my true identity for myself. I want to make my voice heard by helping someone or giving them a smile that makes them a little bit happier. I want to make my voice heard by organizing a peaceful protest against what I feel is wrong, I want to make my voice heard by planting trees. I want to make my voice heard in little ways and big ways too, because I think that the real way to make your voice heard is to make your opinion known, even if you are the only one who knows it. If you are the only one who knows it, at least you have an opinion, you are not basing it off what other people say, or even if you are, it is yours, it is what you believe in, it is what you think that matters. The first step towards self assertion and self empowerment is finding your own voice, then you have to make it heard, little by little, you are capable are making a difference because you are an individual and you have your own opinion that is different in some way from everybody else’s.
Douglass was able to learn from his own life experiences by using the values of self-assertion and self-empowerment to speak out and take action against what he felt was wrong, and by doing so, he was able to become a stronger and more individual person. The values of self-empowerment and self-assertion are so important today because your opinions make you who you are, and you can learn from the determination of Frederick Douglass in resisting slavery, because if you feel, deep down, that something is wrong or unjust, you have to assert yourself and speak out against it, you have to make your voice heard. Douglass was not really able to speak out against slavery while he was enslaved, but after he escaped from slavery and became a free man, Douglass wrote the book “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, in which he was able to tell about his experience of slavery, and he was able to openly speak out against it, because he felt very strongly that it was wrong. He was able to tell us through this book about the lessons that he learned throughout his life. One of those lessons is that even though sometimes it seems so easy to just sit back and live your life without speaking out against what you feel is wrong, or making your opinion known, you have to be strong and determined, you have to speak out and let your voice be heard, you have to affect change in your own life. I know it seems so easy to sit back and not be who you really are, wear the mask, hide yourself, but you have to be yourself and make your opinion heard if you want to affect change and make a difference in the world, like Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass was able to affect change because he was very open about his opinions and he was not afraid to speak out against slavery, he knew that he was meant to affect change in the world, and he certainly did. Learn from Frederick Douglass, he wrote the book to support the civil rights movement and human rights all over the world, but he also wanted to share the lessons that he learned throughout his life and through his experiences with slavery, with people all over the world. I think that there is so much to learn from what he has to say.

Sincerely,
Miranda Landfield
Section F