Compare & Contrast

Education has always been the main key of our lives since the beginning of time. The main thing is not everyone is given the same opportunity; the reason being everyone learns differently. Learning begins at childhood of course; from the parents, parent like figures or a school teacher. Fredrick Douglass and Richard Rodriguez are two great examples of whose process of learning impacted their lives from childhood to adulthood. Between these two great men are some similarities even though they had ambition to learn they grew up in different times and was different minorities. In Frederick Douglass essay “Learning to Read and Write” he explains all the difficulties he had to face when he learned to read and write in 1830s. Being a slave, it was against the law to learn to read and write. Douglass risked his life using all opportunities managed to learn reading and writing.

He describes himself as being brute. In which he says the word brute is an animal. Because his mistress would teach him, then wanted him to stop but he felt like he could learn so much more. But for her, she was not having it. She stopped him and continued to treat him like an animal. Now the article, “The Lonely, Good Company of Books,” by Richard Rodriguez, he talks about his effort and struggle in reading tough books. Richard Rodriguez was a child who was born 150 years later in a Spanish speaking family. Rodriguez talks about his learning experience and explains how he started learning from reading books. In the article, Richard had an idea that books will make him educated and helps him overcome his fear of silence.

With fact being that both Douglass and Rodriguez had a passion to read and write their learning experiences were different. The difference in their learning experience was that the system and society opposed Douglass’s desire to read and write. Now Rodriguez was supported by the society; he was free. On the other hand, Douglass was a slave for his life. Douglass experienced fear and had to take risks to learn himself and on the low, while Rodriguez was free and had access to information and books at any time.