...In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave the scene where Aunt Hester is beaten gives the reader a look at a different type of abuse then the one that is most commonly talked about in the book. Douglass states that his master was very watchful and strict with Aunt Hester, she was not allowed to go out during the evenings and was not allowed near a man named Ned Roberts. Douglass states, “Why master was so careful of her, may be safely left to conjecture” (Douglass 51). In other words he won’t say why he thinks his master was so possessive of his Aunt Hester, and the audience can guess at the reason. This statement also suggests that not only does he know, but the answer should be obvious to the reader. Douglass goes...
Words: 392 - Pages: 2
...Essay 1 Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs are two authors with very similar backgrounds. Both Douglass and Jacobs illustrate the tension involving being African American in a time where slaves did not have any rights, and when they were treated like property instead of a humans. Each of the slaves had different experiences with slavery, but one thing in common: share their accounts through autobiography on how slavery greatly changed their lives. The experiences, memories and treatment in any situation are viewed upon differently between a man and a woman. Obvious in the case of slavery, the two sexes were treated differently and so therefore their recollections of such events were-different Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs and the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, were both written during the same time period. Both authors go into many aspects regarding the cruelty of slavery, but they still had their differences. During each of the author’s childhood they explain how it was for them. When Harriet was growing up in her, she was shielded from slavery. Her Father was accomplished carpenter, whose wish was to someday buy his children. “I was so fondly shielded that I never dreamed I was a piece of merchandise…” On the other hand Fredrick childhood was the opposite. Fredrick was born to a slave mother and an undisclosed white man. He did not know his age growing up he had to make educational guesses. ”I have no...
Words: 577 - Pages: 3
...Sherae Bonner History 231 Honor Sachs November 1, 2015 Fredrick Douglass The Narrative of Fredrick Douglass focuses on the harsh reality of slavery in the southern United States and the push for the abolishment of slavery as whole. Fredrick Douglass discredits the slave owners’ account on slavery by going into great detail about his life as slave and the cruel realities that many slaves, including himself, faced on the plantations. Fredrick takes us through each of his slave masters and tells about each one in great detail and described them as good or bad. This book has a significant amount of historical importance because Fredrick Douglass gives his firsthand account on his life as a slave and his push for freedom. Secondly, his autobiography...
Words: 1107 - Pages: 5
...finally succeed in escaping the cruel life as a slave? In the autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, Frederick recalls his personal story about his life as a slave. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery, and was ripped away from his mother soon after birth. As he grows up, he is given to several masters, most cruel and inhumane. Frederick faces many cases of abuses, such as being whipped, worked to death, and feeling dehumanized. Despite a slave, he also teaches himself how to read and write, and soon, sets a goal to escape to the North. During his time as a slave, Frederick experiences friendship, love, betrayal, and...
Words: 1436 - Pages: 6
...“I broke down: my strength failed me: I was seized with a violent aching of the head, attended with extreme dizziness; I trembled in every limb,” Frederick Douglass expressed in The Battle With Mr. Covey. Excerpts like this emphasize the descriptive syntax used in this story. Frederick Douglass was a slave who escaped to freedom on September 3rd, 1838, using only his wits and his will. Douglass was 20 years old when he made the dangerous journey, and transformed into an abolitionist that helped shape new ideas of slavery. Douglass in his later years produced his autobiography titled The Narrative of Frederick Douglass. Douglass’ use of powerful syntax constructs a point in the story to convey powerful themes of violence, slavery, and aggression...
Words: 276 - Pages: 2
...In the speech, “What to the slave, Is the Fourth of July?”, which was presented by Frederick Douglass on July 5, 1852, Douglass condemns the hypocrisy of American society when they asked him to speak about the meaning of the Fourth of July and their freedom when a majority of the African American population remained in slavery. Considering that Douglass was a black man who escaped slavery, he found it ironic that they asked him to speak about this topic, but he still took the opportunity to establish his reasons on why the slaves should receive their freedom. In his speech, Frederick Douglass is trying to persuade the people who are pro-slavery to change their minds. In the introduction, Douglass starts off the speech by apologizing for being nervous and says, “apologies of this sort are generally considered flat and unmeaning.” He tells his audience this to show that he is being sincere and to establish trust between him and the congregation. He also states, “The little experience I have had in addressing...
Words: 640 - Pages: 3
...Frederick Douglass was a slave in America until the age of 20. He wrote three of the most highly regarded autobiographies of the 19th century, while 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 write three autobiographies, which spaced along decades. He wrote about his life as a slave and a freeman. The institution of slavery scarred him so intensely that he decided to devote his powers of speech and prose to fighting it. Douglass wrote three biographies about his life as a politician, slave, and abolitionist. However, the historical value of these works does not remain as important as the quality of the works themselves. Frederick Douglass’ writing deserves recognition in the canon of great American authors, because his work meets the chosen criteria for inclusion in a collection of important literature. Douglass influenced many famous abolitionists with his literary works, and this impact, coupled with his desire to write an expose about oppression in America, makes him a winning candidate. Although his published works, mostly autobiographies, received much acclaim from abolitionists, this paper explores the quality of Douglass’s work from a literary standpoint. To fully appreciate the impact of Douglass’s autobiographies, we must examine violent period in which he lived. Douglass, born in 1818, grew up as a slave on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation in eastern Maryland. At the time...
Words: 2240 - Pages: 9
...Ernest,Holland Mr.Yoder Eng.lll 1. Odd 12 March Feb.20 2018 The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass presents an insight into the power imbalance between a slave and a slaveholder. In this account, Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave but also the owner. The toxic irresponsible power that the masters hold has a dehumanizing effect on the way they live their lives. This vast amount of control in the hands of one person destroys the good-natured and finest feelings turning them into those of a evil source. With this theme Douglass completes his important visual of slavery as unnatural for all involved. Douglass explains normal action patterns of slaveholders to picture the damaging influences of slavery. Douglass...
Words: 426 - Pages: 2
...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...
Words: 1603 - Pages: 7
...In the Appendix, Frederick Douglass highlights that he has spoken in a respectful manner of religion and believes that “those unacquainted with his religious views suppose that he is an opponent of all religion.” He goes on to offer an explanation of his true sentiments towards religion. What is the attitude of Douglass toward religion and why is important for him to “append a brief explanation” on his views of religion? The theme of religion is constantly discussed throughout the Narrative of Frederick Douglass. A man who valued his Christian faith and morals, Douglass emphasizes how he and his friends, Henry and John had to secretly “read the will of God” (372) so that they would not be forced to “spend the Sabbath wrestling, boxing, and...
Words: 454 - Pages: 2
...English 200 Argumentative Synthesis DeAloia Length: 3—4 pages, formatted according to MLA style Audience: College-level reader familiar with the work of Frederick Douglass and of Erich Fromm at a general level Purpose: In this assignment you will use three skills fundamental to academic writing—summarizing, analyzing, and synthesizing. These skills will also help begin to build our theme, the tensions and complexities involved in the struggle between free will and obedience. Points: 100 Due Dates: 11:00 p.m., February 10: Send thesis paragraph & outline of rough draft—as a Word document formatted according to MLA style*—to instructor via UD email attachment Optional: on your own and as you wish, arrange to exchange rough drafts with a peer for feedback via Isidore Chat, visit the Write Place, and/or visit DeAloia during office hours with your questions* 11:00 p.m., February 12: Instructor provides feedback on thesis paragraphs & outlines of rough drafts via UD email attachment 11:00 p.m., February 14**: As an attachment in Word, submit final draft of Argumentative Synthesis to Isidore Assignments, “Argumentative Synthesis” *NOTE: For additional information on how to prepare...
Words: 997 - Pages: 4
...Glory Assignment- Theme Glory was a 1989 film based on the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment. The theme of “Glory” shows the fight of those blacks known as the “Fighting Fifty-Four”. These African Americans were kept from fighting in the Civil War due to discrimination and racism. During War, Captain Shaw is hurt in the Battle of Antietam and sent home to Boston. He visits his family there and meets the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, a previous slave. Shaw is offered a chance to be ranked as Colonel to order one of the principal every single dark regiment in the Union Army, the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. He agrees and asks his friend, second Lieutenant Cabot Forbes, to fill in as his second in charge. Their first...
Words: 1064 - Pages: 5
...14-5 Frederick Douglass, Independence Day Speech (1852) The most important African American leader of his time, Fredrick Douglass had a profound impact on American notions of slavery. Born in slavery, Douglass escaped at the age of 20 and began writing and speaking against slavery. His volumes of autobiography including “Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave” (1845) were among the greatest of the slave narratives and are now considered classic examples of American autobiography. As a speaker, newspaper editor and writer, Douglass’ influence was great. He knew and aided John Brown in his efforts, welcomed the Civil War and until his death in 1895, spoke against Jim Crow laws and lynching. This famous speech is a masterful example of Douglass’ use of irony in illuminating the hypocrisy of the celebration of Independence day. Fellow citizens above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heave and grievous yesterday, are, today, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget, it I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, “may my right hand forger her cunning, and may ny tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth”! To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject, them, fellow citizens, is American...
Words: 1612 - Pages: 7
...mornings before classes because I concluded that talking to my “friends” and seeing who was posting what was more important than my schoolwork. This behavior began to cause my grades to plummet. Realizing what I was doing to myself, I decided to make a change. I do not check my social networking accounts as much as I used to and my grades reflect it! After long contemplation, I realized that I couldn’t be the only one that had this horrible habit of putting social media before education; someone else absolutely had to do it as well. I had many questions in my head about why such a thing would happen with others. “Do they do it because of boredom? What if they focus more on it because their friends do?” After testing 30 students at Frederick Douglass High School with the amount of time spent on social media as the independent variable and the condition of the grades as a result being the dependent variable, I found my theory to be correct. The more these students used social media, the lower their grades were. They reported that they spent time completing homework at school, spent more time on social media than they did completing schoolwork, and that they try to cram in work at the end of each quarter to try to bring their grades up. They also reported that...
Words: 371 - Pages: 2
...Chapter 15 Reform and American Culture Powerpoint Questions Instructions: Use the Powerpoint presentation, American Nation textbook pages 432-454, and your class notes to answer these questions. 1. What is Social Reform? (Slide 2) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Define the term, predestination. (Slide 2) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. What did the Second Great Awakening stress? (Slide 3) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. What is a revival? (Slide 3) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. What is one political change in the country that encouraged reform? (Slide 4, See Political Origins on Chart) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. What did Dorothea Dix work hard to do? (Slide 5) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. What were debtors? (Slide 6) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. What was the Temperance Movement? (Slide 6) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. What...
Words: 267 - Pages: 2
