Examples Of Apostrophe In Frederick Douglass

Douglass uses vivid imagery to depict the gruesome and ungodly nature of slavery. For example, in chapter six, Douglass describes the death of his grandmother “…She stands-she sits-she staggers-she falls-she groans-she dies-and there are none of her children or grandchildren present, to wipe from her wrinkled brow the cold sweat of death…” (59) This quote helps the reader imagine the grandmothers death and how helpless she felt. The fact that the slaveholders made it impossible for her children to be there when she died, contributes to the inhumane image Douglass has already been painting throughout the

     The tone established in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is unusual in that from the beginning to the end the focus has been shifted. In the beginning of the narrative Douglass seems to fulfill every stereotypical slavery theme. He is a young black slave who at first cannot read and is very naïve in understanding his situation. As a child put into slavery Douglass does not have the knowledge to know about his surroundings and the world outside of slavery. In Douglass’ narrative the tone is first set as that of an observer, however finishing with his own personal accounts.

After about nine chapters detailing his slave life, he says, “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.” (Douglass, 75) He then goes on to describe the turning point for him that sparked his quest for freedom. By structuring his narrative this way, he reveals both sides- how slavery broke him “in body, soul, and spirit” (Douglass, 73) and how it eventually “rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom” within him (Douglass, 80). In doing so, he gives the reader an insight into how he became himself, and reinforces the evils of slavery in the way it shapes a man’s life. Douglass’ use of diction and structure effectively persuades the reader of the barbarity and inhumanity that comes as a result of slavery.

The “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” is an autobiography in which Frederick Douglass reflects on his life as a slave in America. He writes this book as a free slave, in the North, while slavery was still running its course before the Civil War. Through his effective use of rhetorical strategies, Frederick Douglass argues against the institution of slavery by appealing to pathos and ethos, introducing multiple anecdotes, using satirical irony, and explaining the persuasive effects of slavery and reasoning behind keeping slaves uneducated.

In this excerpt from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Frederick Douglass employs three distinct styles in each of the paragraphs. Paragraphs one and two have a somewhat similar style, while the style in paragraph three is drastically different. Douglass is released from his need to tell and simply shows us his internal dialogue in the third paragraph. The literary devices he uses to help make this contrast are distinct. Douglass moves away from an organized, intellectual style to a more lurching, frantic one. This change in styles is extremely effective in furthering Douglass’s rhetorical purpose, which is to evoke disgust in slavery. Douglass tells his story in the first two paragraph, but reveals the inner workings of his mind in paragraph three. This shows how being a slave impacted his psyche. Douglass shows his mind, one of a damaged, desperate slave. This is extremely effective. Douglass provides yet another window through which to look and discover horrors of slavery through the impact of it on the state of one’s mind.

In addition to Jacobs’ account, Douglass’ narrative focused on his journey through manhood and freedom – “…I wished I could be as free as they would be when they got to be men … ‘Have not I as good a right to be free as you have?’” (Douglass, Chapter VII) – as well as, “This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood.” (Douglass, Chapter X). He had no freedom, but when he decided to fight back against the evil hand of slavery, he found it and made it his own. As a slave, he had no right to freedom, which in turn belittled his own manhood. His fight with Mr. Covey restored his sense of honor, his entitled manhood, as well as a spark of freedom he did not previously have.

With rhetorical tact, Douglass uses his narrative to underscore the overwhelming desperation inherent to slave songs. Says Douglass, “The singing of a man cast away upon a desert island might be as appropriately considered as evidence of contentment and happiness, as the singing of a slave; the songs of the one and of the other are prompted by the same emotion.” Driven by an all-consuming

A tonal shift appears between the beginning of the passage and the third paragraph; strong diction is used within phrases such as “fast in my chains” and “let me be free!”. The apostrophe includes various exclamatory sentences and rhetorical questions that provide a sense of excitement, pushing the ideas of freedom, confinement, and escape. Examples could include the question “Why am I a slave?” which expands as Douglass cries out, pleading God for help yet at the same time questioning the validity of God. This question also enforces Douglass’s idea that if there were a God he would provide him with salvation, saving him from the firm grip that slavery holds him in. “You are freedom’s swift-winged angels that fly around the world… I am left in the hottest hell of unending slavery”

Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass is a masterpiece work depicting poor status of black people through the theme of human exploitation, ignorance and racism and for this purpose, Douglass has used modern techniques of irony and realism in his narration

Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln both wrote inspiring pieces during the Civil War. The excerpts are “The Gettysburg Address” by Lincoln and“Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” by Douglass. Both authors use syntax to help develope their purpose and helps establish the tone and mood. They both use specific syntactical features to promote their individual purposes. Frederick Douglass uses syntax to explain how he must be independent because there is no one that he can trust and elaborates on how he doesn’t know what he should do.

“The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” is often told with a harsh and unemotional tone; it is this euphemistic style that gives the reader a keen insight into the writer's epoch as a slave in Maryland during the early 1800’s. Douglass never let us forget that his narrative was true, he wanted the readers to understand the truth that was Douglass's life, in addition the symbols and allusions that populate this book showing the intelligence and sophistication of the writer, while the detached writing also gives the reader another look into that time’s attitude and into Douglass’s own perception.

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave is an account of Frederick Douglass’ life written in a very detached and objective tone. You might find this tone normal for a historical account of the events of someone’s life if not for the fact that the narrative was written by Frederick Douglass himself. In light of the fact that Douglass wrote his autobiography as a treatise in support of the abolishment of slavery, the removed tone was an effective tone. It gave force to his argument that slavery should be done away with.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, brings to light many of the social injustices that colored men, women, and children all were forced to endure throughout the nineteenth century under Southern slavery laws. Douglass's life-story is presented in a way that creates a compelling argument against the justification of slavery. His argument is reinforced though a variety of anecdotes, many of which detailed strikingly bloody, horrific scenes and inhumane cruelty on the part of the slaveholders. Yet, while Douglas’s narrative describes in vivid detail his experiences of life as a slave, what Douglass intends for his readers to grasp after reading his narrative is something much more profound. Aside from all the

In lines 18-32, Douglass describes what was an abnormality in those times- a white woman (his master’s wife) taking pity on him, and teaching him to read and write. Douglass’s juxtaposition of his master’s wife’s attitude toward him- which was one of a “pious, warm and tender-hearted” nature, to the way the rest of society perceived him as a “mere chattel” helped highlight just how abnormal her behavior was. This contrast further developed through the fact that to treat a slave as a human being back in those days was “not only wrong, but dangerously so,” yet despite that commonplace assertion found all throughout life back then, his master’s wife still treated Douglass no different than she would treat a friend. This section of the text elaborated upon her kind-hearted nature, which led her to pity and help those worse off than her, no matter how society perceived it. Douglass emphasized this point by using mostly long, well constructed sentences that were filled with figurative language. This syntax helped elaborate upon the tone of newfound hope in this section, by demonstrating his flowing thoughts and feelings, due to his newfound freedoms. This syntax helped emphasize the fact that Douglass had acquired the very knowledge slave owners sought to keep from him, therefore acquiring the power that had been kept from him his whole life.

In the 1800’s it was not common for former slaves to speak up about their former masters, but Douglass broke the image of a silent slave. When he wrote that letter he did not hold anything back, he used words that would perfectly convey his feelings. As said by Douglass, “Just ten years ago this beautiful September morning, yon bright sun beheld me a slave—a poor degraded chattel—trembling at the sound of your voice, lamenting that I was a man, and wishing myself a brute” (Douglass 2). In this portion of Douglass’ letter he is using powerful word play to bring emotion to the readers. Words like poor, degraded and trembling have a negative connotation to them and bring a sense of