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Rhetoric Essay

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Akinyemi Adebayo
Mrs. Crocco
AP: English
13 December 2012
Does Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass appeal to pathos, logos, or ethos? The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an autobiography in which Mr. Douglass tells his life story. He was born into slavery and experienced many harsh realities that shaped his life. Frederick Douglass was a free black man at the time in which he told this story. He is writing to his audience to inform them about slavery. His claim is that slavery is bad and must be stopped. His experiences help form his rhetoric as a credible speaker; His use of pathos truly develops the negative emotional and physical aspects of slavery on slaves. Throughout Frederick Douglass experienced many …show more content…

Frederick Douglass was furious with the way she was treated. She was old and feeble; instead of putting her out of her misery they thought it would be appropriate to put her in hut in the mountains. “They took her to the woods, built her a little hut, put up a little mud-chimney, and then made her welcome to the privilege of supporting herself there in perfect loneliness; thus virtually turning her out to die!”(29) The sentence creates an angry tone towards the slave owners. The commas build up all the anger Frederick Douglass has, then it is let out with the last statement. He is furious with how the slave owners treated his grandma. Did they think that she could support herself? This only supports his claim. The pathos is seen here through his syntax. His grandma is old and lonely. She has no one to help her. “She stands-she sits-she staggers-she falls-she groans-she dies.”(29) Douglass use of repetition shows a negative tone. His grandma is old and in pain. She has nothing to live for. Her life consists of her having to struggle through daily life to do things. In a perfect world she should had been killed, but she is left to suffer. His grandma’s experience shows the emotional effects of slavery. He is able to support his pathos by using tone. His angry tone expresses his hatred for slavery, because there are no happy endings for

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