Being a boomer, I was exposed to very little African American literature growing up. I've been trying for some time to fill in that gaping hole. The experience has been riveting and eye-opening. Douglass's "Narrative" is neither as long nor as complete as what we expect from an autobiography. It's not meant to be. This novella-length memoir was intended for use as an Abolitionist tract, and so its emphasis is appropriately narrow. Northerners, and even many Southerners, were dismally unaware of

Frederick Douglass hardly needs to be defended, right? In case you haven't read this, and think it might be speechy or difficult to read, it's not. Douglass is smart enough to know he doesn't have to tell you how to feel; his story is plenty gripping enough without editorializing. And while he's an eloquent writer, and will occasionally engage in rhetoric, the thing's only 100 pages long; it flies. (Besides, he earns his rhetoric. Remember that hundreds of slave narratives were written. Douglass...

I really enjoyed the book "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" because I believed it showed a unique first hand experience that has very important themes that can be used today. I also believe that it is a good educational tool to teach people about life in the south in the 1800's and Douglass does a good job of telling that story first hand.Douglass explains to the reader his early life growing up in Maryland and how all his different masters treated him. He explains how he learned to

This is a very quick, but nevertheless important, read that does not withhold the horrors of slavery and reveals the ugly truth to American history. Douglass writes in such a way that makes the reader feel the emotion and carefully constructed thought behind each word. This is a novel that everyone should read so they might get a small glimpse into the barbarity of slave-holding.

The first half of the anthology is, "The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave". Within this slave narrative, Douglass tells his life when he was enslaved. My honest opinion about this book is that it is interesting. I do recommend this book for those readers who find slavery an interesting topic in American history or those who have an interest in learning about equality or just believes in equal rights. About this book i really disliked the pace of the book; in my opini...

Douglass does not spare (Though neither does he dwell unnecessarily on) the harsher aspects of slave life—the routine beatings and even killings, the casual (for the owners) separations of families and beloved friends, the (often successful) attempt to keep the enslaved in a state of ignorance so deep that many cannot imagine another way. As with Harriet Jacobs, I was impressed by the literary skill of a man who risked the lash merely to be seen with a newspaper in his hand. It’s hard for me to

What do I think about The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass? This book was sensational because of douglas's emotional stories. Douglass does an amazing showing, not telling, the readers about his miserable life as a slave and the tough tribulations he had to overcome to obtain the freedom he deserved. In his story, Douglass does a fantastic job in describing to the readers the importance of education in his life and in the present society. Douglass also includes his own thoughts in th

These two books are sometimes very hard going, but essential reading for Americans. We probably tend to think about slavery very much in the abstract, when we even think about it, but these narratives make it painfully palpable and very human. In a way complementary to Akhil Reed Amar’s brilliant description of the way slavery thoroughly corrupted the American political system (in his America’s Constitution), these books reveal in detail the thoroughgoing and extraordinary moral perversion slave...

At first I thought this book would be like Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass. They shared some similarities but I actually found this book more interesting. Seeing the mental abuse Jacobs went through with Mr. Flint her slave master, it made me eager to see what would happen next. Jacobs got in a lot of trouble with Mr.Flint and running away only made things worse. What was interesting was that she was half white. She had children with a white man and had to figure out how to get hersel...

I give out stars very sparingly--generally I give 4 stars if I think the book is really excellent, and 5 if it's one of the very best books I've ever read. If I were to critique these two books separately, I would give Douglass 5 and Jacobs 4. They're both wonderful, harrowing narratives, but I found Douglass' to be more concisely elemental. Absolutely no complainant with Jacobs' book, though. The relationship between her and her daughter I found to be particularly heart-rending. It's interestin...

For years I have devoured anything I could about the U.S. Civil War and the sociology of the antebellum nation. I can't account for how I'm only just now reading these books.Frederick Douglass's oratory was one of the most persuasive forces for emancipation, as well as for the enlistment of black soldiers in the Union army, and is a beautiful thing to read (Northerners couldn't believe he had ever been a slave). I thus had high expectations for the account of his life from his own pen, and was n...

I generally find writing from this time period difficult to read. Henry David Thoreau, for example, or Herman Melville, are like reading through oatmeal for me. I have long meant to read this particular book (really a long essay, weighting in at less than 75 pages), so yesterday, I did.A few months ago in New York an eighth grade girl read this book and wrote an essay about how Douglas's words were still relevant to her experiences in a large, poor, and urban middle school. The young lady in que...

A Narrative of the Life of Frederick DouglasPublished twenty years before the Civil War, the autobiography is one of the first accounts of slavery by a former slave. Douglass depicts the dehumanizing life of slavery and emphasizes the role education played in his freedom. Douglass had a small window of opportunity to learn to read after being moved to Baltimore from the cruel plantation life. Mrs. Auld , who never owned a slave ,began teaching him to read before her husband stopped her. Douglass...

I will always be reading this book. I do not like the badge, 'HERO', but this man is certainly, heroic.

both of these narratives were deep, emotional, and powerful. Details on life during the Slavery period.

it was heartbreaking to read and what happened is truly terrible. but since we read it for school i can't pick the book up anymore because we analyzed the shit out of it

The Narrative of Frederick DouglassEducation is the key element which opens up greater doors in life.The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass is Frederick Douglass’s gem which proved to it’s audience that slaves indeed can be successful. This autobiography focused on the whole life of Douglass, starting from his early childhood, to after his escape. Early on, Douglass was separated from his mother, and was never sure who his father was. He was moved onto a plantation which was run by a ve...

It was my first reading of slave diaries. Fredrick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs’s narration of their life as slaves and how it shapes your consciousness of the world around you is just so shocking. Moreover, it’s so touching to notice the level of these people’s self-consciousness and their sensibility about their surroundings. The account of the difficulties they go through is so vivid and the way they portray the violence the masters impose on them while considering it their absolute rights jus...

Oftentimes, I feel I can almost create a formula for the amount of dedication I will owe a work based on the year it was written. With anything earlier than 1960, I can add an extra 10% brain power required to understand the text with every previous decade. Something like that; the formula isn’t actually written out. This book does not fall into such a category. Despite being two centuries old, Frederick Douglass’s account of his life is salient, cogent and vigorous. While of course the content