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Frederick douglass summary essay
Frederick douglass summary essay
Frederick douglass summary essay
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The story “ Battle with Mr. Covey “ basically talks about Frederick Douglass life as an slave. It also talks about the things he had to go through and see. He also witnessed that he saw and he stated that it was the lowest point in his life. Douglass went through a lot of beatings that he got from Mr. Covey. This relates to his life because it helps us understand what he really went through as becoming an slave.
Frederick Douglass published two similar versions of his fight with the ‘slave-breaker’ Edward Covey in the tenth chapter of his The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, and in the seventeenth chapter of My Bondage and My Freedom. By comparing the two accounts it is possible to see an evolution of his thoughts on abolishing slavery and person hood which occurred in the years which transpired between the two works, 1845 and 1855. In the first account which Douglass wrote at around the age of 27 he narrates a physical confrontation where he refuses to allow himself to be whipped. Douglass struggles for two hours with Covey and also fights off Covey’s cousin at the same time.
In the passage, Frederick Douglass speaks about the particulars of his state of mind as an escaped slave, a fugitive, in 1830’s New York. Throughout the passage, Douglass comprehensively uses similes and metaphors, as well as tone shifts, and repetition, to fully impart unto the reader his not only elation at being free but also his fears, exhaustion and his anxiety towards trusting people. This garners both empathy and understanding from his audience. Douglass opens the passage by describing parts of his escape to New York, comparing his elation to that of a “mariner . . .
…This knowledge opened my eyes to the horrible pit…Once awakened by the silver trump of knowledge. Liberty...”. After finishing the book, which shed light on freedom, Douglass’s fire is lit. The speeches and dialogues anger him but also push him to realize that liberty is something he could have and something he
Both King and Douglass were advocating for the same thing: their constitutional sanction of freedom. Both men, in their respective letters touch upon parallel thoughts and beliefs that revolve around the much bigger topic of racial inequality and discrimination. Both men were discriminated against and they talk about their experiences and plight in their very distinctive yet special styles. Born in the year 1817, in an era of open and unashamed slave trade, Frederick Douglass’s story begins as a serf to Mrs. Hugh in the city of Maryland.
Frederick Douglass’s Hope for Freedom Hope and fear, two contradictory emotions that influence us all, convicted Frederick Douglass to choose life over death, light over darkness, and freedom over sin. Douglass, in Chapter ten, pages thirty-seven through thirty-nine, of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, utilizes various rhetorical techniques and tone shifts to convey his desperation to find hope in this time of misery and suffering. Mr. Covey, who Douglass has been sent to by his master to be broken, has succeeded in nearly tearing all of Douglass’s dreams of freedom away from him. To expound on his desires to escape, Douglass presents boats as something that induces joy to most but compels slaves to feel terror. Given the multiple uses of repetition, antithesis, indirect tone shifts, and various other rhetorical techniques, we can see Douglass relaying to his audience the hardships of slavery through ethos, the disheartening times that slavery brings, and his breakthrough of determination to obtain freedom.
“No,” thought I, “ you need not; for you will come off worse than you did before (Douglass, 2). This quote, along with this incident, was one of the major turning points in the life of Frederick Douglass . This battle was really important for Frederick because it gave him full compensation for whatever else might follow, even death. It gave him self- confidence and determination of being free. ( Douglass ,2).Frederick finally felt like he could stand up for himself and how he could help others.
While working on Covey’s farm, Douglass (1845/1995) famous orator and author of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (p.34) was put to hard work in the field for the first time in his life. After Douglass had had enough of being over-worked by Covey, Douglass wrestled with Covey after he had ran away and was told to return by Master Thomas, Frederick Douglass (1845/1995) famous abolitionist and writer of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (p.42). After beating up Coveym, Douglass (1845/1995) Proffesional orator and author of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass writes clearly: This fight with Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of manhood (p.43). Getting moved to Edward Covey’s farm gave Frederick Douglass the confidence and detirmination to be
Frederick Douglass once said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, he tells his story on enslavement and the journey to freedom. Part of this journey includes Douglass’s escapades of learning to read and write as well as his fight and victory over his slaveholder Mr. Covey. Learning to read and write and his victory over Mr. Covey were significant in Douglass’s journey to freedom because they bestowed an original determination and clarity to escape upon him, and brought his fiery desire to escape back when it was once burnt out. Learning to read and write was a significant moment because it made Frederick Douglass clear on the realization that he needed to escape, and was determined to do so.
At last, Douglass brings the point of freedom and justice the one person has every right to him than any other, and no man has the authority to rule over
Long before Martin Luther King Jr. stood before the American people and gave his powerful “I Have A Dream” speech, slaves braved the consequences of racism in the United States for over a century. Slaves underwent tremendous hardships, most of the time with no opportunity for escape. However, Frederick Douglass, a man born into slavery displayed courage, intelligence and racial pride throughout his life to eventually escape the nightmare that was slavery. Douglass used an extraordinary amount of courage to administrate and successfully carry out his escape. His aptitude and leadership abilities also greatly impacted the abolitionist movements of his time.
In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass's battle with his master Covey is a turning point in his career as a slave in that he resolves to no longer be docile and subservient as a slave. In fighting back against Covey, Douglass frees his mind from the psychological effects of slavery. Douglass's battle with Covey marks the end of Douglass being obedient and not questioning the word of authority like he was brought up to do. Douglass vows that "the white man who expected to succeed in whipping, must also succeed in killing me." (Douglass, 83) By refusing the role of an obedient slave, Douglass also refuses the slave mindset and liberates himself.
Douglass managed to overcome the maltreatment of his wretched slave owners through the eventual attainment of freedom. The injustice imposed upon the African-American slaves by their owners was the crux of Douglass’s motivation to escape this inhumane life. Adolescents in today’s society could use Frederick’s determination as an example of moving forward to better oneself or one’s situation regardless of
Douglass showed readers that to truly obtain freedom it has to be through discovery of identity, including education, and knowledge of one’s self. Douglass’s narrative shows how only when Douglass understands who he is through education and that broadens his understanding of how slavery is dehumanizing as well as, strengthening his desire to emancipate himself.
The Spirit of Life Freedom isn’t free, it’s an appealing mind concept. The human spirit is never free until the quality of oneself gain the strength to make it through every obstacle thrown at them. Frederick Douglass taught us to express the things that no one failed to mention within slavery. He had to master the negativity that dealt within him and the enslavement of all African American. In the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass uses his own personal experiences, a theme of identity and self-discovering.