Rhetorical Devices In Frederick Douglass

In this passage Frederick Douglass describes his grandmother, using her as an allegory to represent slavery and the hearts of the people enraptured by it. Depicted in his words, is the presentation of slavery as a whole, drawn together by his grandmother’s end, which he considers to be the deepest conviction of the “infernal character of slavery”. In the passage he claims that the experience has fueled his hatred for slaveholders and their cruel ingratitude, capturing the attention of the readers. Through his clever use of rhetorical devices and language composition, Douglass conveys the cruelty of slaveholders. Throughout the passage, Douglass captures the reader’s attention with artful displays of rhetoric shown with repetition, anaphora, alliteration, imagery, and

Douglas begins the description of his grandmother with an anecdote to provide evidence. The use of the anecdote provides a personal connection between his experience and the story. Towards the end of the passage, Douglass repeats “my poor grandmother” to show the sadness he felt for his grandmother and anger towards the slaveholders who left her to fend for herself. The passage transitions to a harsh atmosphere that utilizes negative diction to express the author’s stance on the situation as seen with “ingratitude and fiendish barbarity” and “without being gratified the small priviledge of a single word”. Douglass then presents a poem written by an abolitionist named Whittier to enforce his claim. The poem allows for a deeper understanding through the poem’s imagery. Lines such as “Poison with the falling dews, where the sicky sunbeams glare…” further Douglass’ description of the heartless persona of slavery. Various cases of anaphora can also be found throughout the passage found with “she was nevertheless left a slave--a slave for life--a slave in the hand of strangers…” and “at this time, this most needful time, the time for the