The speakers of the poems "Mother to Son" and "Learning to Read," and Frederick Douglass in his autobiography, describe the risks involved to make successes of their lives. Compare and contrast each author's interpretation of a shared message: the importance of education. Think about the use of figurative language, symbolism, or text structures in order to explain how they contribute to this message. Be sure to include evidence from all three texts in your analysis.

"why don't you like me the way i am? " i cried. "i'm not a genius! i can't play the piano, and even if i could, i wouldn't go on tv if you paid me a million dollars! "

explanation:

the conflict between jing-mei and her mother is over jing-mei's piano lessons since her mother wants her to become a prodigy but she does not want to play it any more.

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in his speech "i have a dream," king states the plight of african americans, as he argues that after the civil war, slaves were promised equal rights and freedoms, but that these promises have not materialized.

he goes on to say that there are those who ask "when will you be satisfied? " implying that african americans alread enjoy a lot. in order to attack this argument, king lists examples of civil rights struggles that african americans still face, such as police brutality, segregation and racial prejudice.