The autobiographies of Ben Franklin (1706–1790) and Frederick Douglass (1817–1895) reveal they intuitively employed meta-cognitive awareness and self-control of one's own thinking process during any activity, including reading strategies to improve their reading comprehension:

From age 10, Franklin was largely a self-taught reader (he had a tutor for a year). To improve his reading comprehension, he copied passages, made short summaries, rewrote passages, turned essays into rhyming verse and other games, and avidly discussed what he read with peers.

Douglass (1817–1895) was also briefly tutored but then forbidden to read. Forced to learn on his own, he too invented reading and writing exercises, summarized passages, played word games, and practiced giving speeches and responding to issues in debate.