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Frederick Douglass

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Being a slave, Frederick Douglass knew better than anyone the hardships of slavery. In his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass reinforced his strong beliefs against slavery first by presenting himself as a credible writer, then alluding to religious doctrines to appeal to readers logically while also causing readers to feel sympathetic towards him.
Frederick Douglass began his book without the use of dates. Being such a small detail, this was able to speak volumes about Douglass, as well as portraying him as a more credible writer. Dates give people a sense of identity; dates are associated with important events—birthdays, first steps, anniversaries, etc.—that shape people’s individual character. By acknowledging his own inability to make these connections, Douglass revealed how slavery affected his ability to have a normal childhood. He showed that his master wanted to keep him ignorant. Immediately showing the direct impact slavery had on his life allowed Douglass to show his authority on the subject. He was also able to use this as a comparison for his intellectual expansion in the future. While Douglass began his life with little identity, he was able to reveal himself to be a very smart and admirable man. Although his master wanted the slaves to remain ignorant, Douglass proved himself to be very intelligent by not only outsmarting the white boys from his neighborhood into teaching him to read, but also by risking a beating—or worse—just to achieve an education. Douglass was able to have a stronger impact on his readers by first making his credibility and intelligence very apparent.
Frederick Douglass chose to use logic in order to create a more concrete argument for himself. In particular, he used religious examples to persuade readers into seeing the solidarity of his assertion. Douglass identified himself as a Christian man.

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