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Frederick douglass passage analysis
Frederick douglass critical analysis essay
Frederick douglass passage analysis
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Frederick Douglass’s Position On Slavery Douglass supports his position that slavery is terrible for slaves because they get mistreated getting whipped, left with scars. ¨Mr.plummer was a miserable….and a savage monster. He always went armed with cowskin and a heavy cudgel . I have known him to cut and slash a woman's head so horribly that even master would be enraged at his cruelty.¨As douglass was saying his first master was ¨captain anthony¨was a very cruel man.
The harsh treatment in which he had to endure dehumanized him and his people. His life as a captive left him no choice over his aspirations, he also lacked the right to choose his ethics. Mr. Covey the unjust slave keeper denied him of his rights and stripped him of the right of sleeping like a human. “I had no bed”(Douglass **).Treated like a savage beast was what he was forced to endure.
Douglass describes how his mistress used to be a good person, in the text it states, “There was no sorrow or suffering for which she not had a tear. She had bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, and comfort for every mourner that came within her reach. ”(Douglass 201) Douglass’ mistress would help anyone who needed or asked for help, she was a kind and generous person at this time. The reader can imagine a nice woman that at this time Douglass thought very highly of, he appreciated all her help, but his opinion of her changed when she changed. The thought of being a slave for life really effected Douglass, for example, in the text it states, “ and the thought of being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon my heart.
Frederick Douglass, born a slave and later the most influential African American leader of the 1800s, addresses the hypocrisy of the US of maintaining slavery with its upheld ideals being freedom and independence on July 4th, 1852. Douglass builds his argument by using surprising contrasts, plain facts, and provocative antithesis. Introducing his subject, Douglass reminds his audience about the dark side of America for slaves, in sharp, surprising contrasts with the apparent progressivity within the nation. He first notices “the disparity,” that “the sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and deaths to me,” as an African-American former slave. It is surprising for the audience to hear that the Sun does not bring him any prosperity, that the Sun, the source of life on earth, brings him destruction.
This quote represents a sense of fear in Douglass and also just free slaves in general, due to the fact that Douglass is comparing the slaveholders to kidnappers, in which it tells that slaveholders are capable of seizing free slaves and bringing them back to their previous state. Prior to Douglass' recent escape, Douglass is relieved that he was able to escape, but there is still a sense of distress, due to the fact, slaveholders have the ability to bring Douglass back to the unpleasant situation he was previously
Douglass’ anecdote provided evidence to support his assertion that slaves often fought over the relative merits of their masters, adding to his argument’s ethos and establishing credibility. The substance of the anecdote also added to his argument by showcasing a harmful effect of slavery; its inconsistencies distorted the slaves’ view of the world, causing them to debate over their masters’ relative goodness and consider even the most basic of mannerisms to be indicative of a kind master. Though the readers obviously knew the true nature of the slave owners from the previous accounts of Frederick Douglass, the fact that slaves were so far
Douglass empathizes with other slaves, and their morbid conditions and lack of affection has made the community family, because of this Douglass is determined to devote his life to promote the abolitionist movement. When expressing gratitude towards being translated to the plantations in Baltimore, Douglas projects he is very true to himself when he recites, “I prefer to be true to myself, even at incurring the ridicule of others than to be false and incur my own abhorrence.” Pg.45 This justifies Douglas’ determination and desire to remove slavery which consumed him. It became an obsession, something he was going to put everything in his power to achieve.
An anecdote is a story or experience found in many articles and essays. They are often used to convey an idea or opinion in a more personal way. In The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, anecdotes are a common tool Douglass uses to prove his points and are seen throughout the book. In the narrative, Douglass shares his firsthand experiences of all the evils of slavery. He has seen and been a victim of coldhearted whippings and beatings as well as the mental toll slavery takes on both slaves and slaveowners.
The autobiography, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written in 1845 in Massachusetts, narrates the evils of slavery through the point of view of Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass is a slave who focuses his attention into escaping the horrors of slavery. He articulates his mournful story to anyone and everyone, in hopes of disclosing the crimes that come with slavery. In doing so, Douglass uses many rhetorical strategies to make effective arguments against slavery. Frederick Douglass makes a point to demonstrate the deterioration slavery yields from moral, benevolent people into ruthless, cold-hearted people.
Douglass points to the vast unwillingness from the group of whites that refuses to fully perceive and accept African-Americans as deserving and equal citizens of the nation. Based on his personal experiences as a slave, Douglass is abundantly aware that the battle to abolish slavery is not an easy task. For the first twenty years of his life, he witnessed firsthand the abject cruelty of that institution in our country. Tactfully, Douglass seizes this opportunity to publicly highlight the unmerited and coarse differences in the treatment between the whites as opposed to the blacks living in the United States during this time period. He makes a “powerful testaments to the hypocrisy, bigotry and inhumanity of slavery” (Bunch 1).
Slavery is equally a mental and a physical prison. Frederick Douglass realized this follow-ing his time as both a slave and a fugitive slave. Douglass was born into slavery because of his mother’s status as a slave. He had little to go off regarding his age and lineage. In the excerpt of the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Douglass stated, “What am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow-men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell them at auction, to sunder their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to their masters?” He successfully expresses his pain and anger in this quote by providing images of his and his people’s suffering. He tapped into the emotions of his audience, such as mothers, workers, and those who have felt physically pain by exposing them to the amplified struggles he and others had to face. Nonetheless, he continually reminded the audience, both explicitly and subliminally, that his group of people are too human, and that the only difference they share is the color of their skin. He is pleading his cases and hoping that it gets across to his audience in hope they will do the right
Douglass tells about his own childhood and how his father might have been a slaveholder. He explains
Douglass uses deep characterization to show the change in behavior of slaveholders who have uncontrolled power. A good example of this is Sophia Auld. Before slavery took effect, she was a kind and caring woman who comprehended moral righteousness. She had never owned a slave before Douglass. Owning Douglass soon changed her into an evil slave owner when she realized the power, “the white man’s power to enslave the black man” that she had (Douglass 41).
Is an attended audience evident? Explain your answer. The attended audience would appeal to those who are in slavery, witnessed it, who went through it, and who are against it. Frederick Douglas is a former American slave and an aggressive abolitionists. He changed the way Americans viewed slavery and pushed for freedom.
