Etude Fredirick Douglass

« The Secret Road to Freedom They lived to tell the tale!  1°- Find the equivalent of these words : 1) precise (adj.) : accurate 2) had to : ought 3) forbidden (adj.) : not allowed 4) uneducated (adj.) : ignorant 5) research : inquiries 6) agitated (adj.) : restless 2°- a.

Who is the narrator? What can we guess about his past ? Find 3 elements. The narrator is Frederick Douglas, telling us about his life as an American Slave during the 1840s. Based on this narrative, we can guess that in his past he was born a slave and his parents were too ; maybe he was also taken from them and sold at a young age.

We can suppose that he never really go to know them such as any other information concerning his family or himself (here he mentions not knowing his own age). b.

How did the narrator feel about not knowing his age ? Not knowing his own age, Frederick felt like he wasn’t worth as much as the other kids his age, for exemple, comparing his situation as a slave back at the time to the life of vulgar horses.

By being denied informations, they stayed ignorant as their masters wished.

He words it as feeling unhappy and comparing himself to the « white kids » who were privileged to him. c.

Why doesn’t he know his age ? He doesn’t know his age because he never got to see any « authentic record » concerning his birth information : we can assume his birthday or simply his age at the time.

His master deliberately wished not to tell them about their age to maintain them in a position where they weren’t any better then animals. d.

Why didn’t slave owners want their slave to know ? (Mention a comparison from the text.) The slave owners never wanted their slaves to know in general.

They treated them the same way they considered them, like animals.

And we know from this text that the same way horses know nothing, they kept their slaves in ignorance and completely.... »