Out of oppression rises resilient individuals whose voices cannot be silenced. Though the exact circumstances may vary, both Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. were empowered in the face of persecution. Both came from a place of suffering and restriction, were inspired by the brutality the observed, and attacks institutions which allowed these atrocities and others to continue. Their words, powerful and thought-provoking, will serve as pieces that will not soon be forgotten. Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. both utilized certain writing techniques to emphasize their story and increase the degree of impact to the reader. In both pieces, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and Letter from Birmingham Jail, emotionally charged elements are included to create a response from the reader. Douglass ultilizes a deeply personal and graphic style. Remembering the horrific story of his Aunt Hester, Douglass recounts, “and after rolling up his sleeves, he (slave master) commenced to lay on the heavy cow skin, and soon the warm, red blood (amid heartrending shrieks from her, and horrid oaths from him) came dripping to the floor.” In contrast, King calls upon the emotion of the recipients through his reference to the greater evil committed against society. Relating what he has seen to the larger picture, King describes, “But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen
Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass two inspirational black figures in black history were very atypical from their fellow slaves. Both figures were disrespected then and even more respected today. There were plenty of trial and tribulations throughout their lives but they preserved to become the icons they are today. For many reasons we can see how they are atypical from there fellow slaves and how we should be thankful for our freedom and take advantage of opportunities just like they did.
never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their adulthood and robbed of their
Malcom X once said, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” This quotation means that education is an important thing, and we should prepare for our future. Fredrick Douglass and Malcom X are two different men who write similar aspects. Fredrick Douglass is a slave, and Malcom X is a criminal, both were deprived of obtaining a higher sense of education. They are two activists who grew up to realize the importance of an education, in reading and writing. In Frederick Douglas’s essay “Learning to Read and Write” and Malcolm’s “Learning to Read” one can compare and contrast the analysis both essays.
When comparing two essays, there are many different aspects that the reader can look at to make judgments and opinions. In the two essays that I choose, MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. 'Letter from Birmingham Jail', and FREDERICK DOUGLAS'S 'From Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,' there were many similarities, but also many differences. Some of them being, the context, style, structure and tone. Many times when readings or articles are being compared, people over look the grammatical and structural elements, and just concentrate on the issues at hand. I believe it is important to evaluate both.
In the excerpt “Learning to Read and Write”, Frederick Douglass talks about his experiences in slavery living in his masters house and his struggle to learn how to read and write. Frederick Douglass was an African American social reformer, orator, writer, and statesman. Some of his other writings include “The Heroic Slave”, “My Bondage and My Freedom”, and “Life and Times of Frederick Douglass”. In this excerpt, Frederick Douglass uses an empathic tone, imagery, certain verb choice, contrast, and metaphors to inform African Americans of how important it is to learn to read and write and also to inform a white American audience of the evils of slavery. I find Frederick Douglass to
In 1963, the rights and the equality for African Americans was a cause constantly fought for. Protests and marches took place in order to push for a change in the society, to make a world where equality is achieved. In a Birmingham jail, sat a civil rights leader named Martin Luther King Jr.. Placed in this cell due to a protest held in Birmingham, Alabama when there was a court order stating it was not allowed, King wrote a letter that has become an influential and infamous piece of writing. This letter became known as, “The letter from a Birmingham Jail”. This letter calls out to the criticisms placed on King and confronts them all. In this letter, through rhetorical devices such as pathos, logos and ethos, and other rhetorical devices.
In spite of the fact that Sherman Alexie, Plato,Frederick Douglass, and Malcolm x, the four experienced childhood in various eras, in various conditions, and at last in various universes. The trio confronted distinctive battles and had diverse victories, yet at last they weren't generally all that extraordinary. In spite of the fact that they experienced childhood in various circumstances they both had similar perspectives on the significance of a training. The considered training to be opportunity and as a feeling of self-esteem and however they accomplished their instruction in various ways they both had a solid will and a solid feeling of self-inspiration.
Malcolm X and Frederick Douglass were two very important men in America’s history. As educated black men, they defied the idea of uneducated blacks. Their prowess with language allowed them to communicate their movements’ message to the masses easily and effectively, letting them have an active role in society. Douglass wrote his autobiography, which was a bestseller, and exposed to antebellum America the true harshness of slavery. Malcolm X became an important figure in the fight for civil rights one hundred years later, giving speeches across the country. For both men, education became a process of enlightenment. It made them eager to learn more and more. However, this process had some differences. The most glaring difference is the way they learned; Malcolm X taught himself to read and write while Douglass’s mistress taught him first, and later by smaller children in the area. Besides that, the end result was vastly different for Malcolm X compared to Douglass, as he read much more diverse content than Douglass did. Thus, Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X shared both similarities and differences in learning to read and write.
Can one think undergoing suffrage of unjust slavery and being held in a penitentiary be compared? In the excerpt of Frederick Douglass (Learning to Read and Write) and in Malcolm X (Learning to Read): both dealt with the oppression that the white race as brought to them. Douglass lists the ways which he learns how to read and write. He discusses how everyone is vulnerable to corruption under slavery. In the excerpt of Malcolm he tells the reader how he first started reading and he describes how the white man has always had the upper-hand when it comes to non-white people. Frederick
In the year of 1963, Martin Luther King was imprisoned for peacefully marching in a parade as a nonviolent campaign against segregation. In Martin Luther King’s essay “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” the paragraphs that have the most emotional appeal are, just as the critics say, paragraphs thirteen and fourteen. King tugs at the reader’s emotions in these specific paragraphs using very detailed examples about the difficult, heart-wrenching misfortunes that have happened to the African American society and what they had to endure on a daily basis in Birmingham by using metaphors, contrasts, alliteration, anaphora, and imagery. As taken from an excerpt of “MLK - Letter From A Birmingham Jail,” In paragraphs thirteen and fourteen of Letter
Obviously, again my primary motivation for writing my Rhetorical Analysis of Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is that this is a requirement for my English Composition Class. My heartfelt motivation for writing my Rhetorical Analysis is the respect I have for Martin Luther King’s intelligence and commitment that he displayed for the equality of the African American population. In analyzing “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, I developed an even stronger understanding of the dedication Mr. King had for the disadvantaged poor black population and the injustice that victimized them on a daily basis.
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an autobiography written in 1845 and The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as told to Alex Haley and written in 1965, both depict the trials each of these men, Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X, went through in bettering their situation against racism. Frederick Douglass was a slave for the earlier parts of his life, while in comparison Malcolm X was only an oppressed African-American. As time passed each in their own way realized that what they were experiencing was unjust. Though having different personalities and from different times and circumstances they were similar in their resistance against racism. Throughout their lives they resisted with their own literacy, the education of others and their written works.
America, a land with shimmering soil where golden dust flew and a days rain of money could last you through eternity. Come, You Will make it in America. That was the common theme of those who would remove to America. It is the common hymn, the classic American rags-to-riches myth, and writers such as Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass had successfully embraced it in their works.Franklin and Douglass are two writers who have quite symmetrical styles and imitative chronology of events in their life narratives.
Throughout the course of American history, there had been many brilliant minds and leaders who re-wrote the history, and during the Civil War era there existed many factions seeking to dramatically change America. Amazing speakers and thinkers spread their ideas throughout history. These thinkers had many obstacles that they had to overcome to the point that they changed history. Fredrick Douglass for an example, An African American, who fought for black civil rights using speeches like “What to the slave is the Fourth of July”, talking about the terror of the slavery, On the other hand, Abraham Lincoln an optimistic speaker who went through hardship and learning obstacles from a point when he didn’t even could read or write to a point where he became a president of the united stated of America. Both leaders went throw hell to obtain an
Frederick Douglass, a famous abolitionist leader and writer, was born into slavery in the early 1800’s. Douglass published many books and papers illustrating the time in which he lived, all of them portraying his perspective of growing up as a slave in Talbot County, Maryland. During this time slaves had no rights. They were bought and sold constantly, and were consider property the slave owners. Slaves mainly worked in the fields, but Douglass on the other hand, was lucky enough to live as a servant to the Master and his family. In his essay, “Learning to Read and Write”, Frederick Douglass described the events that took place in his early childhood and adolescence years that helped him acquire the skills to learn to read and write. These skills are ultimately what enabled Douglass to free himself from slavery and pursue his own passions to fight slavery with his words. In Contrasts, Peter Elbow is a modern day English professor who has published numerous essays regarding methods on how to improve People’s writing skills. One of his methods is known as “Freewriting.” Although these two essays were published nearly two centuries apart, they contain similar methods of organization and purposes within their writing. The authors used a step-by-step method of writing where each supporting detail adds the previous one and guides the reader closer to the main principle of the paper.