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    Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis

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    Frederick Douglass uses rhetorical devices in his autobiography to convey the horrors of slavery. He employs repetition to emphasize how slaves worked constantly without rest under Mr. Covey's ownership. Douglass also uses descriptive imagery to depict how he was physically and mentally broken down by the abusive treatment of slavery. Finally, he incorporates exclamatory syntax and rhetorical questions to invoke sympathetic emotions in readers and portray the inner turmoil of slaves contemplating escape. Through these techniques, Douglass aims to give slaveowners a firsthand account of the dehumanizing experience of slavery.

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    Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis

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    Frederick Douglass uses rhetorical devices in his autobiography to convey the horrors of slavery. He employs repetition to emphasize how slaves worked constantly without rest under Mr. Covey's ownership. Douglass also uses descriptive imagery to depict how he was physically and mentally broken down by the abusive treatment of slavery. Finally, he incorporates exclamatory syntax and rhetorical questions to invoke sympathetic emotions in readers and portray the inner turmoil of slaves contemplating escape. Through these techniques, Douglass aims to give slaveowners a firsthand account of the dehumanizing experience of slavery.

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    Frederick Douglass uses rhetorical devices in his autobiography to convey the horrors of slavery. He employs repetition to emphasize how slaves worked constantly without rest under Mr. Covey's ownership. Douglass also uses descriptive imagery to depict how he was physically and mentally broken down by the abusive treatment of slavery. Finally, he incorporates exclamatory syntax and rhetorical questions to invoke sympathetic emotions in readers and portray the inner turmoil of slaves contemplating escape. Through these techniques, Douglass aims to give slaveowners a firsthand account of the dehumanizing experience of slavery.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    177 views2 pages

    Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis

    Uploaded by

    api-513539863
    Frederick Douglass uses rhetorical devices in his autobiography to convey the horrors of slavery. He employs repetition to emphasize how slaves worked constantly without rest under Mr. Covey's ownership. Douglass also uses descriptive imagery to depict how he was physically and mentally broken down by the abusive treatment of slavery. Finally, he incorporates exclamatory syntax and rhetorical questions to invoke sympathetic emotions in readers and portray the inner turmoil of slaves contemplating escape. Through these techniques, Douglass aims to give slaveowners a firsthand account of the dehumanizing experience of slavery.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Marissa Garrido

    Ms. Woelke

    AP Eng. Lang & Comp.

    8 December 2020

    Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis

    Not only is Frederick Douglass a prominent activist, author, and public speaker, but

    Douglass is a renowned former escaped, slave. Within the time of the Civil War, Frederick

    Douglass was seen to be a leader in the abolitionist movement of ending the practice of slavery.

    From his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, he uses

    rhetorical devices such as repetition, descriptive imagery, and exclamatory syntax to achieve his

    purpose of wanting slaveowners to have firsthand accounts of being in the horrid position of a

    slave

    From the beginning of Frederick Douglass’s narrative, he is seen to use repetition. As

    Douglass is describing the harsh weather conditions they have lived through, due to being under

    the ownership of Mr. Covey, he states how the slaves and himself, “Work, work, work, was

    scarcely more the order of the day than of the night” conveying the unethical nature of their

    schedule. The act of repetition in this quotation creates a hateful and spiteful emotion towards the

    slaveowner as the slaves are tirelessly worked all day. Further, into the narrative, Douglass uses

    descriptive imagery to show how the constant abusive treatment he receives from being a slave.

    He provides the statement of how “[He] was broken in body, soul, and spirit. [His] natural

    elasticity was crushed,... and behold a man transformed into a brute!” and this quote is seen to
    invoke not only sympathy for Douglass but anger towards Mr. Covey and showing how he felt as

    if he was broken in every part of his body. Invoking these hateful emotions through the use of

    imagery suggests that Federick Douglass wanted the reader to feel as if they were experiencing

    these emotions with him. All in all, the use of repetition and descriptive imagery further show the

    horror slaves experience.

    Further, into the narrative, Douglass is seen to start talking using exclamatory syntax and

    rhetorical questions. As he is facing a dilemma, he asks God for guidance and “why was I

    born a man, of whom to make a brute! Is there….any God? Why am I a slave? I will run away. I

    will not stand it. Get caught, or get clear, I'll try it.” This is invoking a thoughtful conversation in

    the head of a slaveowner and providing a sympathetic feeling towards all slaves. In conclusion,

    the use of these rhetorical devices establishes the idea of horrors that come with being a slave,

    not only under Mr. Covey but speaking for all slaves’ lives.

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