Negro's Complaint

The author’s diction illustrates Douglass view of the world around him and his feelings about a community created by fear and injustices. “The wretchedness of slavery” provoked Douglass to “trust no man”, which gave him the sense of feeling “perfectly helpless.” Being imprisoned in slavery for so long caused Douglass to witness the evils of man and experienced the cruelty of being alone. Even more when the “ferocious beats” showed their “greediness to swallow” it left Douglass “toil-worn and whip-scarred.” As time passed by Douglass’ desire for freedom has grown. However, when he does escape he puts himself in his own state of slavery that is run by fear. Douglass’ desires has not even freed him, but it also allowed him to live in life without

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.

He emphasizes by stating, “fellow citizens, above your national, tumultuous, joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions!” In other words, his fellow brothers suffered injustices that he will not forget nor does he wish to. In the hopes to make them have an image of his people pleading for mercy. Furthermore, he explains that he is to see this from an individual’s perspective being an ex-slave himself. To demonstrate, Douglass explains how slaves are overwork, are deprive of their liberty, work without any wages given to them, and “keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men’, to beat them to a pulse, to whiplash until their fresh is torn from their limp bodies, to pursuit them dogs, to renounce to their relatives, to “knock their teeth”, to be malnourished and to submit to their masters wishes. This was an example of what white people have done in the past to the slaves. In giving such gruesome images, Douglass hopes to open their attitude towards the treatment of the slaves.

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.

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

He has shown that the “blessings in which you, this day rejoice, are not enjoyed in common” (124). With the purpose of his speech firmly defined, he now has the liberty to expound upon the true evil of slavery that lurks in the shadow of hypocrisy. He employs the satirical technique of ridicule to expose the ugly nature of enslavement with equally ugly diction. Douglass’ disapproval ranges from “hideous” to “revolting” to “an outrage”, and culminates in the assertion that slavery is the “greatest sin and shame of America” (125). A far cry from the almost reverent tone of his opening statements, Douglass led his audience from the throes of a Fourth of July celebration to an intense degradation of the freedom they so

The passage from The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass depicts Douglass’s inner thoughts as he sits looking out at the Chesapeake Bay. Through the juxtaposition of freedom and bondage imagery, varied punctuation and sentence length, and biblical references, Douglass depicts the horrors of slavery alongside his personal conviction to becoming free, suggesting that slavery not only impacts one’s physical state but their mental one as well. The passage begins with Douglass contrasting the beauty of the boats in the Chesapeake Bay and the terrors of his enslavement, suggesting a sadness in realizing he can see freedom and not have it. The “beautiful vessels” were “robed in purest white” and were “so delightful

P1:1 “Freedom,” written in English 363, analyzes (formalism approach), Frederick Douglass’, “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” that expresses Douglass’ human condition/need for freedom from slavery. Douglass writes about his wish for freedom from slavery during the 1800’s (Douglass Ch 1). Douglass has a good life with his first master, and he learns to read, but his second owner treats him cruelly and then he seeks freedom from slavery (Douglass Ch 1). Douglass in his poem to the ships reflects upon one Sunday afternoon (like many other Sundays) when he is off from work and near the water admiring the passing ships and wishing for his freedom from slavery (Douglass Ch 10). Douglass believes that all slaves wish for freedom from

The text also illustrates how difficult it was for slaves to become free. According to law, a slave needed to have papers indicating they were free. Essentially, this was the only way they could

In the ‘ The Slaves Dream’ the slave is laying on the ground sleeping on a burning hot day, he dreams about having a family, and living in his native land. He dreams about having power, love, and freedom which is something as a slave, you don’t get. ‘’ A tear burst from the sleepers lids and fell into the sand” says Longfellow. These dreams of freedom make him cry because this is will never happen. Douglas also writes, “That he started in his sleep and smiled,” showing that these dreams also made him smile for the sight was a good thing for him to see. For a moment he was so caught up and lost in his dream that he lost touch of reality. The slave then dies “ A worn-out fetter, that the soul had broken and thrown away.” The slave’s dream, freedom that he longed for so much never came true and he was forever stuck in torture.

In William Lloyd Garrison’s speech, “No Compromise with the Evil of Slavery”, the argument for the abolishment of slavery is presented. He uses many rhetorical strategies in order to connect with the audience and to convey his message. Garrison critiques slavery through rhetorical questions and by employing logos, ethos, and pathos.

The fleeting thoughts of freedom can strike at odd times, and the narrator implies that the slave represses these thoughts for fear of their possible deadly ramifications. Whitehead’s frequent employment of “s” words throughout the passage for alliteration like “sometimes,” “sway,” “sudden,” “song,” and “Sunday,” draws the reader’s attention and effectuates a lulling, tranquil atmosphere, as if the reader himself dolefully contemplates how wonderful the feeling of liberation must be for a

Initially, the narrator, or the slave master figure, introduces the audience to his pleasant childhood disposition and love of animals. His temperament reflects society uncorrupted by slavery. Once the narrator feels the effect of slavery—in owning a black

The lyrics in the song tell us of how that even though slaver no is allowed it is not forgotten. That while black are free that still are repressed by society.

The lyrics are the most intriguing aspect of the song. Julia Ward Howe penned them quickly and completely in just one sitting. That is impressive to be so creative. Written in the early dawn hours they detail the moral battle that was raging in the Unites States and it paints the abolitionist as a solider of God fighting to free the slaves of the south. It speaks of God’s wrath against the south and how he will crush the serpent with his heel. The lyrics are plain; Howe did not use loquacious or embellished words. She wanted the words to be