Read the following passage from narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass. In this excerpt, Douglass describes his time as an enslaved servant for the Auld family.
I lived [with master and mistress Auld] about seven years. During this time, I succeeded in learning to read and write. In accomplishing this, I was compelled to resort to various stratagems. I had no regular teacher. My mistress, who had kindly commenced to instruct me, had, in compliance with the advice and direction of her husband, not only ceased to instruct, but had set her face against my being instructed by anyone else.[...]
my mistress was, as I would have said, a kind and tender hearted woman; And in the simplicity of her soul she commenced, when I first went to live with her, to treat me as she supposed one human being ought to treat another.[...] Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamb like disposition gave way to one of tiger like fierceness.
The first step in her downward course was in her ceasing to instruct me. She now commenced to practice her husband's precepts. She finally became even more violent in her opposition than her husband himself. [...] Nothing seemed to make her more angry than to see me with a newspaper. She seemed to think that here lay the danger. I have had her rush at me with a face made all up a fury, and snatch from me a newspaper, in a manner that fully revealed her apprehension. She was an apt woman; and a little experience soon demonstrated, to her satisfaction, that education and slavery were incompatible with each other.
From this time I was most narrowly watched. If I was in a separate room any considerable length of time, I was sure to be suspected of having a book, and was at once called to give an account of myself. All this, however, was too late. The first step had been taken. Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell.
The plan which I adopted, and the only one by which I was most successful, was that of making friends of all the little white boys whom I met in the street. As many of these as I could, I converted into teachers. With their kindly aid, obtained at different times and in different places, I finally succeeded in learning to read. When I was sent of errands, I always took my book with me, and by going one part of my errand quickly, I found time to get a lesson before my return. I used to also carry bread with me, enough of which was always in the house, and to which I was always welcome; For I was much better off in this regard than many of the poor white children in our neighborhood. This spread I used to be Stow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give me that more valuable bread of knowledge.
From Frederick Douglass, narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass
What is this passage mainly about?
(1 point)
Responses
It is about how Douglas overcame various obstacles while learning how to read.
It is about how Douglas overcame various obstacles while learning how to read.
It is about how the children in Douglass's neighborhood helped him learn to write.
It is about how the children in Douglass's neighborhood helped him learn to write.
It is about how Mistress Auld treated Douglass differently than her husband did.
It is about how Mistress Auld treated Douglass differently than her husband did.
It is about how the Aulds supported Douglass in his desire to become educated.