Frederick Douglass Figurative Language Essay

Slavery is a humongous topic involving both slaves and former slaves. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Story is one such story. Douglass suffered punishments, and watching others get punished, he uses those experiences to make his argument against slavery.Douglass’ tone in the narrative is sarcastic and dark. Frederick Douglass successfully uses vast quantities of rhetorical devices, illuminating the horror and viciousness of slavery, including the need to eliminate it.

     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.

In the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: an American Slave, written by himself, the author argues that slaves are treated no better than, sometimes worse, than livestock. Douglass supports his claim by demonstrating how the slaves were forced to eat out of a trough like pigs and second, shows how hard they were working, like animals. The author’s purpose is to show the lifestyle of an American slave in order to appeal to people’s emotions to show people, from a slave’s perspective, what slavery is really like. Based on the harsh descriptions of his life, Douglass is writing to abolitionist and other people that would sympathize and abolish slavery.

Frederick Douglass, the author of the Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass was a self-taught slave that was able to escape the brutality of slavery in the year of 1838. Frederick Douglass’s book is separated into 3 main sections, including, a beginning, middle, and end. The purpose of the narrative is to improve the audience's understanding of Douglass’s experience of being a slave, the horrible treatment slaves received, and how Douglass was able to overcome and escape slavery. All throughout the narrative, Douglass uses many rhetorical devices, including, diction, imagery, and syntax, which helps the audience understand, one of his main chapters, chapter 5. In this chapter Douglass implies that the overall purpose is to emphasize the animalistic, inhuman treatment slaves received, how Douglass felt about leaving Colonel Lloyd’s plantation, and his luck of being able to move to Mr. and Mrs. Auld's.

To continue his persuasion, Douglass uses selection of detail and different tones to make his view known. When describing some aspects of slavery, Douglass’ use of detail opens society’s eyes to injustice. In one case, when describing the whipping of his Aunt Hester, he includes details that encompass sight- “the warm, red blood… came dripping to the floor,” sound- “amid heart-rending shrieks,” and emotion- “I was so horror-stricken… I hid myself in a closet” (Douglass, 24). By including facts covering many senses, he provides the reader a chance to piece together the scene, giving them perspective. If society has all the details, it becomes easier for them to pass an accurate judgment of slavery. His detail, or lack thereof,

In “ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, American Slave” the author, Frederick Douglass, uses personal anecdotes and comparisons to wild animals to show that slavery is a grave matter by not only dehumanizing slaves, but the slave masters too. Through rhetorical devices, he stresses his own feelings and harsh experiences being treated as an animal might, how others were treated through slavery from his own eyes, and his feelings about the cruel master’s capabilities, resembling mostly wild beasts.

Frederick Douglass weaves powerful and effective syntax throughout his narrative to show the way slavery can impact someone’s mental and emotional being. Firstly, Douglass employs rhetorical questions in order to reveal his inner turmoil. In asking the questions, “Is there any God? Why am I a slave?” Douglass allows the reader to see how at the time, he was at his breaking point and at a desperate period in his life. He begged to know the answer to these questions because he didn’t understand why he was suffering while others were thriving. By allowing the reader to peer into Douglass’s mental state, the reader can understand the wave of emotions he underwent due to the nature of slavery; it can be inferred that it greatly changes a person,

The narrative starts off with talking about Douglas witnessing a woman slave, his aunt, being whipped by the master. “I was so terrified and horror stricken at the sight, that I hid myself in a closet, and dared not venture out till long after the bloody transaction was over. I expected it would be my turn next” (24). Douglas was forced to watch loved ones being whipped until blood came gushing down their backs. For a child this is traumatic, and it was just the start of the torture and pain that Douglas had to witness and experience. Secondly, Douglas shows the reader the heavy weight and longing for freedom that slavery brings. “‘You are loosed from your mooring, and are free: I am fast in my chains, and am a slave! You move merrily before the gentle gale, and I sadly before the bloody whip!’” (75). At this point in the story, Douglas is working for a harsh slaveholder, and this takes place during the day of rest. Douglas sees the boats and sails, free and enjoying a life full of freedom and carelessness. As a slave, Douglas is envious of the freedom and the surplus of luxury that they have. Douglas expresses his anguish with a beautiful speech about the unfairness and mistreatment bestowed upon slaves. With this and other examples, Douglas is able to show the reader the true pain and horror of slavery. Douglas also showcases the pain of slavery by using ethics and morals in his

Douglass’ narrative achieves a great amount of power through the clear and simple language he uses throughout it. The language he uses produces an ease of analysis, and viewers don't have to try hard to receive the message communicated. With this, audiences to his narrative receive a candid and easy to perceive text that shows the terrors of slavery from firsthand exposure. An example of this occurs in the first chapter of the narrative. Douglass affirms, “The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege” (Douglass). Here he's clearly stating that he is upset he wasn't permitted to

Mr. Gore, an overseer of the time, was known to speak “bountifully with his whip” in order to try and make them understand that they may have messed up (Douglass 38). Why? Why must you feel the need to bring someone harm if they slightly messed up? Also to help show the brutality or “barbarity” his own old grandmother was placed in “a little hut” out in “the woods” in “perfect loneliness” and left “out to die” because she was of no use to the new owners of the plantation (Douglass 61). These were brutal times and Douglass wanted to help relay that message that the treatment they were serving and getting was wrong, 100%

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave is a great depiction of oppression of the African American race of people. Douglass’ narrative exploits the harsh and cruel reality of physical, mental, and dehumanization that the slaves faced. Along the way, Douglass witnesses many horrifying experiences as a slave and learns from such experiences how to prevent from winding up in similar situations. The first exhibition of oppression was with Douglass’ aunt when he watched her be beaten by Mr. Plummer at the end of chapter one.

In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave (1845), written by Frederick Douglass, the author asserts that slaves were treated no better than, sometimes worse than, livestock. Douglass supports his claim by first sharing what he went through while enslaved as a child and also by sharing his experiences as an adult trying to escape the grasp of slavery. Douglass’s purpose is to share his personal experiences while enslaved in order to help readers become more aware of the horrors that slaves faced daily. Based on his constant use of high diction, Douglass is writing to officials hoping his experiences will sway them to end slavery.

In order to do so, he looks to convince his audience that slavery is an institution that impacts both the slaves and the slaveholders. His emotional tone, driven by logic and straightforwardness, highlight the many ethical dilemmas he faces in his life. From being labeled as a “slave for life” to learning to read and to the many traumatic incidents he experiences, Douglass skillfully uses ethos, pathos, and logos to bring out the emotion of his readers and convince of the evils of slavery. He writes, “I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me, and behold a man transformed into a brute” (Douglass, Chapter 10). His powerful and descriptive language in this statement essentially puts the reader in his shoes and provokes an emotional response. One moment he was optimistic and suddenly he was crushed by the reality that he woke up to everyday.

A reading of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass shows the cruel treatment of slaves in the South. Douglass emphasizes the dehumanization aspect of slavery – towards both master and slave – throughout his narrative in order to persuade his readers that slavery was a degrading practice. These views were inspired by The Columbian Orator, a collection of political essays, poems and dialogues which enabled him to develop and articulate the wrongness of slavery, both philosophically and politically. The Narrative shows how white slaveholders preserve slavery by keeping their slaves ignorant.

The themes help in understanding the history of American slavery and the longstanding struggle against its legacies of racism and injustice. The theme of horrors of slavery is conveyed through slavery in the U.S. From the U.S. history; we learn that slaves were the property of their masters. They were subjected to hard labor and torture by their masters. In his literary work, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave (1845), Douglass discusses the kind of horrors faced by