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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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As a slave, Frederick Douglass faced many challenges. Throughout his autobiography, however, he tends to understate his struggles, and use a more factual tone. Even so, there are a few instances where he clearly displays passion and emotion. The contrast in his use of language reflects the contrast in his state of mind through either a lack of emotion or a great deal of passion, the combination of which shows his internal conflicts.

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Furthermore when Douglass speaks about the treatment of slavery in his book "Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass. " many people were interested, seeing how he used to be a slave. Though Douglass's words were impactful when talking about slavery, it was more impactful when he spoke about his own experiences. As Douglass expressed how his master was a brutal man who has no sympathy for his slaves he goes on to say how, "He would at times seem to take great pleasure in whipping a slave. I have often been awakened at the

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In his autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass uses numerous devices and an unvarnished tone to soften a notoriously divisive subject and reveal the cruelty of slavery to a mostly white audience. Throughout the piece, Douglass employs numerous devices such as irony and aphorisms to camouflage the stark realities of slavery; such as when he says “a still tongue makes a wise head”(p.23) or Douglass’ ironic description of Mr. Gore as a “good overseer.” His wields this language to hide the realities that would alienate or turn off the white reader from his writing. Douglass also uses unembellished language to allow him to speak of some of the harshest parts of being a slave, and leave the moral deliberation up to the

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Kyla Valentine DiCiaula AP Lang III 2/24/23 Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis Slavery in the United States was truly a horrific time to be a “negro”; beatings almost every day, scarcity of food and clothing, constant demeaning, belittling, hypocrisy, and much more unfathomable circumstances. In both Frederick Douglass’s self-written narrative and his speech titled, “What is Your Fourth of July to Me?” , he explains, in depth, the negative effects of these aspects of slavery, by using metaphors and biblical/religious allusions. However, while Douglass discusses his own experiences with slavery in his narrative, he acts as a representative for his people and discusses the universal Black experience in his speech, separating himself

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Although a century apart, Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from Birmingham Jail and Frederick Douglass’s What to a Slave is the fourth of July are kindred spirits. Notwithstanding the many differences in their respective writing styles, deep down the essence of the message conveyed is still very much the same. Both Martin Luther King Junior and Frederick Douglas had similar beliefs and concepts related to the treatment of the African American community. They both describe a tough yet heart breaking situation that makes them question their moral values and doubt the system and its ability to change for better.

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When most people hear the words “Fourth of July” they think about fireworks, cookouts, and sparklers. During the 1850’s, the Fourth of July served as a reminder of the many horrors and injustices in the world. On July 4, 1852, Frederick Douglass-- a former American slave, abolitionist leader and adroit speaker-- spoke in Rochester, New York about the affectation of celebrating independence. In his speech, “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery”, he claims celebrating independence is unethical when slavery is widespread. To convince the reader of his claim, he uses rhetorical questions, emotional appeal, and antithesis in hopes of shedding light and sparking action on the wrongful situation.

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‘’ No words, No tears, No prayers, from his glory victim, seemed to move his iron heart fro his bloody purpose.’’ (page 5). Douglass appeals to the mournful emotions of the audience by expressing how the overseers gave no mercy or cared about the effect of whippings to the slaves. Douglass use of parallelism displayed how slavery was

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Analysing Frederick Douglass’s Narrative Frederick Douglass’s narrative of his slavery experience, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,” was published in 1845. It discussed the truly horrific accounts of what legalized slavery looked like for him. Frederick Douglass uses diction in the form of explicit negative connotation in his narrative to reveal the horrible legacy of slavery. Douglass uses connotation in his narrative to help the reader understand the drastic realities of being a slave, especially a runaway slave, during the time of legalized slavery. He describes his experience of being in a free state as, “the unarmed mariner to feel when he is rescued by a friendly man-of-war from the pursuit of a pirate.”

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In “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass narrates in detail the oppressions he went through as a slave before winning his freedom. In the narrative, Douglass gives a picture about the humiliation, brutality, and pain that slaves go through. We can evidently see that Douglass does not want to describe only his life, but he uses his personal experiences and life story as a tool to rise against slavery. He uses his personal life story to argue against common myths that were used to justify the act of slavery. Douglass invalidated common justification for slavery like religion, economic argument and color with his life story through his experiences torture, separation, and illiteracy, and he urged for the end of slavery.

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As someone who has witnessed the atrocities of slavery, Douglass is able to paint a picture for his audience consisting of northerners who had most likely never even been to the South. For these people who don’t own slaves themselves, he serves as a window into this world of slavery in southern states. This is further shown by Douglass repeatedly using phrases such as “I see” and “I hear” (354). These clauses demonstrate the spectatorship of the audience’s perspective, since the majority of the movement consisted of Northerners. Without the emphasis on Douglass’ own experience throughout the speech, it would be increasingly difficult to know that he was a witness to slavery and his audience was not.

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The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass; an autobiography consisting of Frederick Douglass’ search for freedom from the slaveholders who kept many African Americans captive, allowed many to understand the pain and misery in the midst of slavery. Published in 1845, Douglass conveyed the lives of African Americans and how they have suffered a great deal of pain and discomfort through a provocative tone . Throughout his autobiography, Douglass used countless metaphors to portray his life. From Mr. Plummer to Mrs. Auld, the reader could better perceive the text by visualizing the metaphors that Douglass has used. Using Frederick’s writing, youthful audiences can gain knowledge about slavery and its effects.

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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).

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Douglass encountered multiple harsh realities of being enslaved. For example, the ex-slave was practically starved to death by his masters on multiple occasions. In fact, “[He was] allowed less than a half of a bushel of corn-meal per week, and very little else... It was not enough for [him] to subsist upon... A great many times [he had] been nearly perishing with hunger” (pg 31).

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Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis Essay The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written by Frederick Douglass himself, is a brutally honest portrayal of slavery’s dehumanizing capabilities. By clearly connecting with his audience’s emotions, Douglass uses numerous rhetorical devices, including anecdotes and irony, to argue the depravity of slavery. Douglass clearly uses anecdotes to support his argument against the immorality of slavery. He illustrates different aspects of slavery’s destructive nature by using accounts of not only his own life but others’ alsoas well.

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