“All knowledge is connected to all other knowledge. The fun is making the connections.” Three connections I made while reading Fredrick Douglass’s “Learning to Read and Write,” text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text, helped me understand the main idea, which is learning to read and write was key in Douglass’s journey to freedom. One connection, I read, “I did not dare to ask anyone about its meaning, for I was confident that it was something they wanted to know very little about,” I thought about when I was young, my parents did not want me to know that I was having surgery to have my tonsils removed (41). My parents told me that I would be taking a nap at the hospital, and I would wake up feeling better than before. Of course, I had no idea what going on at the time nor did I want to ask. Douglass, being at risk, did not want to jeopardize his safety that he already had prior to asking. He did not want to know the meaning because what he does not know would not hurt him. Looking back, if I…
I made a connection to myself when I get mad, upset, or lost, I always sit down and read my Bible. In Douglass’s case, he reads the Columbian Orator understand new ideas. In my case, I read my Bible when I do not know what to do because I feel that it helps me learn more about God, gives me the best advice, and helps me improve myself. I made this connection because it helps me understand why Douglass wants to read in the first place; he wants to learn and better himself just like I do. Three connections I made while reading Fredrick Douglass’s “Learning to Read and Write,” text-to-self, text-to-world, and text-to-text, helped me clearly understand his journey to becoming a free man. It is important because without reading and writing, Douglass might not have become free from…