Rhetorical Devices In Fredrick Douglas's Impactful Speech

291 Words2 Pages
Fredrick Douglas gave an extremely moving and impactful speech which includes many rhetorical devices and appeals. Douglas uses rehetoical devices such as irony and rhetorical questions. Douglas uses irony when saying, "America vis false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future", Douglas explains that America is false to its foundation of freedom, as slaves in America have to fight for their freedom. Douglas shows the irony of America being built on freedom while slaves within America now have to fight for their freedom, effectively showing Americans that the premise that the country was built on is being denied to African Americans. Douglas also uses rhetorical questions to effectively show