...In the memoir Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Douglass creates an effective argument against slavery through explaining how it can be detrimental to whites in chapters 6-9. Douglass starts off chapter 6 talking about his new mistress Mrs. Sophia Auld, who was unlike any white person Douglass had met before because she had "the kindest heart and finest feelings." She had never owned a slave before Douglass and her personality soon changed when introduced to the life of a slaveholder. Mrs. Auld taught Douglass how to read, but when Mr. Auld heard of this he said to her, "Learning would spoil the best n****r in the world . . . if you teach that n****r . . . how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever...
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...continued on in the United States with a constant fight between multiple sides on how it should be dealt with. One of the most memorable writers of this time was Frederick Douglass, who wrote a memoir of his life that was published in 1845 under the name of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. The purpose of his work was to visualize and convince whites all over the nation that the horrors of slavery, terrible conditions, and unjust actions cast upon blacks were immoral and should be abolished. Frederick Douglass uses many forms of rhetoric including appeals and devices to build a profile of reasonability and credibility that help him further and effectively explain his argument and reasons why slavery should be abolished....
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...The Mind of Frederick Douglass, by Waldo E. Martin, Jr. Introduction The book I chose to read is entitled, The Mind of Frederick Douglass. This particular book involved many different aspects of Fredericks’s minds setting. Frederick Douglass a born slave who was trying to shape his life into becoming a leader for black people. Frederick Douglass was an “intellectual activist” that was focused on many issues. To name a few, he focused on race, humanism, feminism and “self-made man”. Overview Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in the month of February in the year of 1818. Unlike white people, some black people had to haunt for their birthdays all their life. This became a problem to Frederick all his life. His mother was a slave by the name of Harriet Bailey. Frederick was not aware of his father identity until, he “subsequent discovered that his master Aaron Anthony was a possible candidate. Frederick lived on the plantation of the “white master father” Aaron Anthony, the general superintendent. Along with his family, expect for his mother, who lived about twenty miles up the road. His “white master father,” served for one richest largest slaveholder in the Maryland at the time name Colonel Edward Lloyd. Frederick relationship with his father was not close at all. His “white master father,” would completely ignore him at times and this would make Frederick feel very hurt (Martin, 1984). Frederick remembers being mistreated by his master...
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...slavery, would you? Frederick Douglass, a former slave, presented his speech “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” at a celebration of the Declaration of Independance, but took it upon himself to make it known that the Fourth of July was not a day of celebration for him or his people. Douglass utilized pathos, rhetorical questions, and repetition to drive home his argument against slavery and to encourage his audience to also fight for equality between everyone. Pathos is a quality that evokes sadness and pity. Douglass used pathos all throughout his speech to continuously catch the attention of his audience and to give them a surreal realization of the world surrounding them. For example, in lines 60-67, Douglass referred to the slave and to humanity as “bleeding”, “fettered”, and “trampled upon.” He needed to use such thought-provoking words in order to catch the attention of his audience and to maintain that hold throughout the entire speech. Douglass also tried to incorporate his own emotion into his speech....
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...After the meeting, Douglass realized the only reason Andrew Johnson met with Douglass and other African American leaders was to get his speech into the papers. In order to respond to that speech Douglass wrote a reply that would go out at the same time as the President’s speech. Much of the response is focused around the idea of peace. Douglass’s other works do not focus on creating a peaceful America. The reason that President Johnson was not in favor of granting the black man the right to vote is because he felt it would upset the peace that the country was just now gaining after the war. Here, Douglass used the former president’s concern for peace to help his anti-slavery argument. Take for example when he wrote, “Peace between the races is not to be secured by degrading one race and exalting another - by giving power to one race and withholding it from another - but by maintaining a state of equal justice...
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...The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass expresses various rhetorical strategies that the author, Frederick Douglass, employs in order to establish his argument regarding slavery. One such strategy, categorization, is used to categorize all slaveholders into an antagonistic role. Even though Douglass experienced moderately just slaveholders during his captivity in Maryland, Douglass' rhetoric allow readers to classify slaveholders as the enemy despite their infrequent generosity. For example, one of Douglass' masters forces Douglass to earn nine dollars a week through the shipbuilding trade; subsequently, Douglass is allotted little compensation. He states, " . . . I became quite restless. I could see no reason why I should, at the end of each week, pour the reward of my toil into the purse of my master."; furthermore, he states, "He was satisfied with nothing but the last cent." Thus, Douglass grows to detest his master; moreover, readers of The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass identify with Douglass' categorization. Frederick Douglass utilizes description as a tool to convey his rhetoric in addition to his use of categorization. In various instances throughout his narrative, Douglass depicts specific examples of the inhumane brutality associated with slavery. When Douglass was a young adolescent, two rampaging oxen narrowly miss gouging him and eventually become the cause for Douglass' master to whip him ferociously. Additionally, description is used to...
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...Although Frederick Douglass wrote several autobiographies during his lifetime, none continues to have the lasting literary impact of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. From its publication in 1845 to its present status in the American literary canon, the Narrative has become one of the most highly acclaimed American autobiographies ever written. Published seven years after Douglass' escape from his life as a slave in Maryland, the Narrative put into print circulation a critique of slavery that Douglass had been lecturing on around the country for many years. Yet while the Narrative describes in vivid detail his experiences of being a slave, it also reveals his psychological insights into the slave/master relationship. What Douglass realizes that day is that literacy is equated with not only individual consciousness but also freedom. From that day, Douglass makes it his goal to learn as much as he can, eventually learning how to write, a skill that would provide him with his passport to freedom. What gives the book its complexity is Douglass' ability to incorporate a number of sophisticated literary devices...
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...In the nonfiction speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” (1852) Frederick Douglass eloquently, yet powerfully delivers his presentation by utilizing three important strategies. He establishes his own credibility through the respect he shows to his audience; captures the audience’s feelings of national pride; and uses the reasoning behind their pride against them in order to open the eyes of white men in the United States. They then may see the injustice of celebrating freedom when so many men are still bound by chains. Douglass establishes credibility in his humble stance by grasping the audience’s attention with his story of being a former slave. He modestly introduces himself and his hard work by explaining “the difficulties to be overcome in getting from the latter to the former, are by no means slight”, the latter being the “slave plantation” and the former being “[the] platform”. By describing his path to freedom as a challenge, it gives the audience an understanding that Douglass not only speaks as a free man allowed to express himself, but as a former slave who was once held back from going anywhere. He then addresses his limitations due to his “little experience and…less learning”, but despite that, “[he was] able to throw [his] thoughts hastily and imperfectly together”. In describing these...
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...Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in 1818 of February in Talbot, Maryland. He was named Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey but changed it when he became a free man. He started to call himself Douglass to throw off slave hunters. He tried to escape slavery twice before he actually got away. On his successful escape he had help from a women name Anna Murray she would later become his wife. Douglass escaped slavery at the age of twenty. He is one of the most productive abolitionist speakers and he strongly affected American social policies by writing biographies of his life as a slave also by helping women’s rights, and convincing colored people to become soldiers in the Union Army. Frederick learned how to read and write at a high level...
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...The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, is a memoir written by Frederick Douglass. In this memoir Douglass successfully uses pathos and tone to create an effective argument that supports the abolishment of slavery. Douglass effectively utilizes pathos when he writes about the disadvantages and hardships that he faces as a slave. The white men had an overwhelming amount of authority over the slaves because of the difference in skin color, Douglass himself did not understand, "why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege" (36/269) and was given no explanation to answers these thoughts. Douglass reflects on the basic freedoms he was not given as a child, such as knowing his birthday, which begins to pull on the heart strings of...
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...The Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass Essay Published in 1845, The Narrative in the Life of Frederick Douglass, written by Frederick Douglass himself, attests how life of slave really was. Douglass “debunks the mythology of slavery” by rebuking its romantic image, proving that black are not intellectually inferior and showing that slavery promotes disloyalty among the slaves. Douglass rebukes the romantic image of slavery in his novel by writing about the brutal reality slaves faced. When slaves sing, white people think they are singing because they are “[content] and [happy],” when they are really “[the] most unhappy”(26). Douglass directly criticizes the white men, who wrongly believe slaves are happy with their lives. Douglass goes on to describe the brutality slaves face throughout his novel. Slavery consists of beatings that “[cause] the blood to run,” leading to the “[breaking] of body, soul, and spirit”(59, 63). Douglass censors nothing in his novel, and describes every beating to help the reader imagine how bad the slave’s lives were. This helps to destroy the romantic image of slavery, because the sorrowful songs, excessive beatings, and mental toll prove the slaves are not treated humanely, and are mentally and physically not treated...
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...Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an autobiography written by Frederick Douglass and published in 1845, tells the story of a former slave. Frederick Douglass was once a slave, but has transformed into a passionate abolitionist who advocates against slavery. The purpose of the narrative is to describe the challenges Douglass has to overcome and the mental and physical abuse he suffered through. Chapter six specifically focuses on how slavery can change a person and Douglass’ central claim that the ownership of slaves can poison the most kindhearted person, leading them to be corrupted. In chapter six, Douglass describes the corruption of Sophia Auld and introduces two slaves, Mary and Henrietta, to support his central claim that the...
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...Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of an American Slave, Written by himself. New York: Blight, 2003. Frederick Douglass was known as the most important African American leader and intellectual in the 19th century. He became a major figure in the crusade for abolition, the drama of emancipation and the effort to give meaning to black freedom during reconstruction. He tells stories about the 20 years of living the life as slave to his amazing and courageous escape. Douglass portrayed the core meaning of slavery, for both individuals and of the nation in his narrative. His multiple meanings of freedom as an idea and reality of mind and body and of the consequences of its denial were his themes in the book. The narrative also uncovers Douglass’s symbolic strategies in moral and economic slavery, the master-slave relationship, the psychology of slaveholder, the aims and arguments of abolitionists and the impending political crisis between North and South. He believed in equal rights as throughout his narrative dreamed of being free and wondered why slaves where treated the way they were. Born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in Tuckahoe, Maryland. He never new his exact age as there was never any record of his birth. Not knowing this information made him realize early on that there was a difference and unfairness in equality as he commented on he never met a slave in his life who could tell when their birthday was or how old they were. He continued saying...
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...Based on the readings, I can see a connection between Frederick Douglass and George Fitzhugh arguments about slavery but at different points of perspective reflected upon each writer’s personal experience. Both texts relates to the idea that slavery was a part of natural state of society and that it is a necessary component to increase the economic finance system. Through he first saw that slavery was a part of the community, Frederick Douglass’s emphasis on individuals’ rights have shown great contributions to the idea of freedom and explain the role of education as a major factor in understanding how one perceived the power of humanity in his writing. From his experience, he was able to learn how to read and write while gaining an understanding...
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...Frederick Douglass, a black man who changed America's history with being one of the foremost leaders of the abolitionist movement, which fought to end slavery within the United States in the decades prior to the Civil War. A slave in America until the age of 20, wrote three of the most highly regarded autobiographies of the 19th century, yet he only began learning to read and write when he turned 12 years old. After an early life of hardship and pain, Douglass escaped to the North to began his soul changing and spiritual beliefs of all men and women should be created equal. The institution of slavery scarred him so deeply that he decided to dedicate his powers of speech and prose to fighting it. In this paper it will include discussions on Frederick Douglass's early life childhood, the struggles he overcame to became a successor his motives and morals, the impact he had on the civil war, his achievements, and the legacy that went on within his name. Frederick Douglass was born as Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey and was a slave from Talbot County, Maryland. His date of birth varied because slaves couldn't keep records, in result Frederick adopted February 14 as his birthday because his mother Harriet Bailey used to call him her "little valentine".(Douglass, (1885). When he was only an infant, he was separated from his mother, and she subsequently died when he was about seven years old. He then lived with his grandmother, Betty Bailey. His father remains unknown...
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