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Rhetorical Analysis Essay On Frederick Douglass

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Mrs. DiCiaula AP English III February 24, 2023 Socratic Makeup Essay The struggle for equality has existed since the beginning of humanity. The United States has been around for only a fraction of that time, but it has still had many battles for freedom. The most divisive of these is the ongoing fight for racial equality. One of the most effective early soldiers in this battle, who fought by using his own voice, was Frederick Douglass. Frederick Douglass was an escaped slave who devoted his life to writing speeches and books to help spread the abolitionist cause. Douglass had one goal, the freedom of his people. In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and “What is Your 4th of July to Me?” one can see his use of varying tones …show more content…

His autobiography is meant to be informative for a wide audience of white people and an inspirational call to action for Black people. On the other hand, his speech is targeted towards a specific subset of white people, and this white audience consists of abolitionists and allies to those in bondage. This difference in audience also creates a difference in tone, which manifests as the speech sounding much harsher than the narrative. “...I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July!” (Douglass, pg. 2). This statement is markedly different in tone than Douglass’ autobiography. While he does not hesitate to say anything about his experiences in both texts, his autobiography is much more measured in tone. He relies on vivid descriptions of his experiences to convey emotions in his book, while he shows his anger outright and unabashedly in his speech. In his narrative, Douglass describes gruesome scenes with a level tone, “...and after rolling up his sleeves, he commenced to lay on the heavy cowskin, and soon the warm, red blood (amid heart-rending shrieks from her, and horrid oaths from him) came dripping to the floor,” (Pgs. 4-5). Despite how horrific some events in his life were, he never uses overly emotional language to describe them in his book. His neutral tone invites people to learn from his story without becoming defensive, in contrast, his speech has a more aggressive tone which is intended to call people out for their harmful actions or

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