Summarizing - Book Report/Review Example

Article summary and analysis How Fredrick Douglas Taught himself to think Frederick Douglass was a slave who underwent many difficulties to overcome his status and be one of the ex-slaves who are celebrated to date. When he was born in Maryland, it was difficult overcoming the practices since slavery was common among the bourgeoisie. However, he used different tactics to overcome the situation and acquire a new status. For instance, Douglass found his way to England where he opened his eyes and saw the evils, which were taking place in the society. Through this, he learned about different ways he could bring change to alleviate the mass who were enslaved by their masters. The suffering he saw around him as a slave and all that was said about slaves made him to learn a lot, which he placed on practice to minimize the impact.
Secondly, Frederick Douglass learned the power of words and this enabled him to publish magazines where he expressed himself by giving deep feelings about slavery. For instance, he published different magazines, which aimed at pushing the government towards initiating reforms and exercising equality among all races. He learned that the publications had power to influence changes in the country to guarantee freedom to all (Caesar 4-9). Therefore, he learned that whatever people did had an impact in pushing the government of the day to bring reforms. Hence, his continuation to publicize enabled him to learn a lot, which led to changes realized today.
How the narrator responds to another person
In the poem, Langston Hughes, the narrator is a black person who tells a white man that he is his father. However, the white man says, “you are my son! Like hell” (Utley 5). The white man does not acknowledge that the black speaker has something to offer, and this leads to abuse. For instance, the white man calls the speaker “bastard” and this annoys the speaker making him call him by the same name (Utley 9). The speaker also informs the white man that he (white) is a “nigger” because they come from the same father and do not want to recognize the other. However, the white man does not want to accept that he is also a person of color even if he came from the same father and argues that he is okay. Because of this notion, the black speaker finishes his poem by stating that the white man’s son is “a little yellow bastard boy” (Utley 15).
The poem is trying to fight for equality among the biracial children, a notion that the white families are trying to avoid. For instance, the speaker says that they need to be equal in case they are from the same father rather than looking at the skin color. Through this assumption, the speaker is trying to neutralize racism, which comes because of intermarriage taking place in the society. Most white fathers want to disown their black children and that forms the central argument of the speaker in the poem since he is being victimized without playing a role in his social status or race.
Work cited
Caesar, Rebecca. Frederick Douglass Relationship with Abraham Lincoln. 2005. Web. 2015.
https://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?PAGE=4071
Utley, Octavia. Voice in Poetry: Dream a world with Langston Hughes. 2015. Web. 2015.
http://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/viewer/initiative_08.02.01_u Read More