Jarrod Cook

Professor Liliana Naydan

English 15, Section 15

9 September 2004

Journal Prompt #1

Benjamin Franklin, Frederick Douglass, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman all became literate through very different methods. This is presented through pieces of their own writing contained in Conversations by John Selzer. They all have very different arguments as to how they came to be good writers. There are several similarities within there own personal experiences that contribute to there skills.

Franklin’s argument reveals that he began as a young child researching the many aspects of reading and writing. Several acquaintances and family members assisted him throughout his life. Franklin’s writing states that many aspects of his life and his own fascination with reading and writing contributed to his literacy. Douglass argues that with just an introduction to the world of literacy he was filled with a constant desire to continue to learn until he could master the skill. He knew he had to do this himself and employ many methods that would not be seen as correct if someone was to discover them. He used repetition in both his reading and writing until he was able to employ all the methods of each. Gilman presents her experience of becoming literate using fictional stories to represent real life occurrences. Her argument states that learning to become literate was like figuring out a code. She had to hide this from her family and friends until she could work out the entire puzzle. The yellow wallpaper of the room that is so confusing and motivates her to discover how it works represents this.

The arguments presented by these authors offer several different methods of learning to become literate. There are many differences and similarities between all three of the methods. Franklin’s argument states that an attempt should be made to read and write as many pieces as possible. Douglass demonstrates the use of repetition, which leads to the eventual discovery of the meaning to the text. Gilman studies the text as if it were a secret code that must be figured out and once she starts the journey she cannot stop and it leads to the her literacy. These arguments are also very similar in that all three were forced to be secretive in their learning. Franklin was forced to get books in secret and read them and return them before they were discovered as missing. Douglass was forced to wait until he was alone to begin his reading and writing and secretly trade other items for things such as books. Gilman used the cover of darkness and waited until her husband was away to begin to work out her puzzle.

These three arguments all pose different methods to literacy that all have the capability to achieve the same goal. The different methods can be attributed to social standing and what was accepted as correct during the current time period.