Question

Reread the first two paragraphs of the passage.

How does this opening section develop the central idea of the passage?


It explains how Douglass comes to understand that white people take advantage of ignorance to keep black people enslaved.

It shows that Douglass is a quick learner and sets the stage for the passage's exploration of how Douglass learns to read.

It shows the mean-spirited attitude of Mr. Auld and sets the stage for the central idea: the cruelty of white slaveholders.

It describes Douglass's relationship with Mr. and Mrs. Auld and introduces the central idea: Douglass's resentment of Mr. and Mrs. Auld.

Answer 1

This opening section develops the central idea of the passage because:

1. It explains how Douglass comes to understand that white people take advantage of ignorance to keep black people enslaved.

• Born in 1818, Frederick Douglass was a former slave who became one of the greatest names in the abolitionist movement and in American literature.

• According to his memoirs, as we can see in the passage in the document you have attached, Douglass first started learning how to read and write from his owner, Mrs. Auld.

• However, her husband forbade her to continue his education for the clear and awful reason that an educated slave would no longer keep on being a slave. Mr. Auld is well aware that, to be able to exert such type of unfair power over someone, one must keep that person ignorant. If Douglass learned things, he would understand the injustice of what was being done to himself and others, and he would fight against it.

• Thus, we can conclude that the first two paragraphs convey the idea that white people, such as Mr. Auld, took advantage of slaves by keeping them uneducated.

Learn more about Frederick Douglass and Mr. Auld here:

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