Compare And Contrast Frederick Douglass And Sojourner Truth

It takes courage to stand up for something you believe in if everybody is pushing you the other way. In the two speeches, “Ain’t I a Woman?” by Sojourner Truth and “Untie His Hands” by Frederick Douglass, both authors use the power of voice to persuade people into listening to their cause. Truth’s speech vividly expresses how black women are not treated like white women or given the help they needed and Douglass’s speech expresses frustration on how black people are not given the chance to show their full potential, because their hands are always tied up. While both speeches are extremely persuasive, the context, style, structure and use of rhetoric in Truth’s speech was more effective.

The lives of Frederick Douglass and Sojourner truth were

Douglass’s speech talks about how people are judging African Americans and the how he is upset because if they had their hands “untied” they could show people their full potential and talent. Douglass shares how he wants to be left alone and do his own thing when he says, “All I ask, is to give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone! If you see him on his way to school, let him alone- don’t disturb him,” (Douglass para. 5). This shows how Douglass wants to be treated like a white person at the time- left alone in everyday situations. Truth’s essay not only focuses on race, but also on gender. Truth is trying to express how black women aren’t considered as women. “That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles or gives me any best place! Ain’t I a woman? Look at me!” (Truth para. 2). As she talks about how white women are carried over ditches without asking for it, she stresses black women could actually need help and would still never be offered it. You can tell she is exasperated when she shouts, “Look at me!” after that line because it is evident she has needed a hand many times when one was never extended to her (Truth para. 2). The one speech that is most influential and that stuck with you based on context was Truth’s because not only was it

Douglas’s speech s extremely structured and formal, and shows off the education that he was given and has worked for. Not only is it structured well but also his grammar was on point. One passage that displays strong word choice and correct punctuation and grammar is when he says “We all feel, in the existence of this rebellion, that judgments are terrible, widespread, far-reaching, overwhelming, are abroad in the land; and we feel, in view of these judgments, just now, a disposition to learn righteousness,” (Douglass para. 2). On the complete opposite, Truth’s speech is very loose, and the grammatical correctness is weak. One passage that showcases these characteristics was when she stated “And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them in,” (Truth para. 5). Even though Truth’s speech is not grammatically thriving or structured, it is more powerful. The weak grammar and structure gives people an idea about how she wasn’t given the same opportunities that white people have, such as education and