The poem, “The Discourse on the Logic of Language” by M. NourbeSe Phillips is very similar to “The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass.” The poem talks about the importance of language and the narrative mentions the hardships of slaves learning how to read and speak the English language. Both the poem and the narrative talks about reasons why slaveholder’s were against slaves learning how to read and write. M. NorbeSe Phillips says “If they cannot speak to each other, they cannot then ferment rebellion and revolution.” In the narrative, an educated slave was considered very dangerous to slaveholders. The slaveholders deprived their slaves of knowledge and education so they couldn’t express their feelings towards one another. This was just a way for the whites to control the slaves. If they knew how to read and write, slaves would eventually get together, escape or rebel against their masters. Learning how to read is a vital skill to intelligent thinking.  In Fredrick Douglass’ narrative, Master Hugh stopped Sophia from educating Fredrick because he said that educated slaves are unhappy. The reason for this is because educated slaves will eventually learn the truth about their conditions and their value to society. In both the poem and the narrative, whites were mentioned as the superior race. Blacks were inferior beings compared to them. In the poem, M. NorbeSe Phillips mentions how Caucasians were believed to have larger brains and were more intelligent compared to people of color. It is absurd that people used to actually think like this. Both these works of literature have a lot in common and share similar ideas.

-Calvin Yu