Preview

Frederick Douglass

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1121 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Frederick Douglass
The majority of students these days take their education for granted and don’t appreciate the knowledge they are granted. Students from well-developed countries grow up with an education available while the underdeveloped countries have a dying hunger to learn. In the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave” a former slave unveils the brutality of slavery and shows how education inspired Douglass to break through the chains of slavery and to fight for emancipation. Douglass appreciated every second he had with the ability to learn. Once he was literate, he gained the inevitable knowledge of how slavery started, which led him to think about nothing but freedom. To describe all of his experiences, Douglass uses many rhetorical devices that reflect on all three appeals. AP English Language and Composition classes should continue teaching about Frederick Douglass’s narrative because it not only serves as a history lesson, but it demonstrates how to properly use rhetorical devices.
Although students are aware about slavery, the narrative gives them a deeper insight because it is written by someone who experienced it. It would be rare to hear about slavery first hand told if it wasn’t for Frederick Douglass. For instance I knew a little about slavery before I read Douglass’s narrative, but once I did I had a better understanding on why slaves would rarely rebel against their masters. Frederick Douglass describes his cruel overseer, Mr.Gore and how he brutally kept slaves on the line. When Demby was trying to escape from getting severely punished, he was shot at the third call from not getting out of the lake. Mr.Gore argued “that if one slave refused to be corrected, and escaped with his life, the other slaves would soon copy the example..”(Chp.4 Paragraph 5). To be cautious slave owners would make sure that slaves knew what would happen to those who disobeyed orders. Most of the slaves would be intimidated and afraid to even think about

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas an American Slave” tells the story of the author a former slave named Frederick Douglass. After being born into slavery, he eventually escapes becoming a champion for freedom, a distinguished American diplomat, a well thought of orator, and an important writer. He accomplishes all these things despite being denied a formal education. Douglass was able to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to learn to read and write. This narrative not only illustrated the value of education but, also showed that with determination one can overcome any adversity and succeed.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Sharon McElwee’s literary analysis of Frederic Douglass literary piece, “The Narrative of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, by Frederick Douglass,” Sharon breaks down the different key elements in Douglass’ story that make it so outstanding. Frederick Douglass is famous for his speech given during a time where slavery was still considered acceptable and was used by most wealthy white. Slavery was not viewed as cruel, but a valuable business that could earn them money. Although Douglass was not alone, his speech stands out among the others who were fighting for their freedom.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass, is a story about Frederick Douglass’s life as a slave and how he goes on his quest to achieve freedom. Douglass was born into slavery and goes from master to master, and he finally sees the power of education when he reaches Baltimore to work for some new people. Here Douglass begins to learn how to read and write and he uses this to his advantage in hopes of becoming free one day. He manages to teach himself how to read in secret and then helps the other slaves become more literate. Eventually Douglass does manage to escape but he doesn’t stop there, he becomes an activist himself in hopes of ending all slavery one day. Through this book, Douglass reveals that learning is essential in order to achieve freedom, friends can help you to achieve your goals, and that slavery can have a very negative effect on a slave’s mind.…

    • 1379 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    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 be relatively persuasive in his argument to his intended audiences.…

    • 1455 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fredrick Douglass

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Literacy is an important aspect of Fredrick Douglass’ life. We see many instances where he is either trying to read and write, or teaching others to read and write. Initially, he learns to read and write from his first master’s wife. His reading and comprehension improves through the reading of the book “Columbian Oracle”. His knowledge increases even more when a white man named Mr. Wilson teaches Fredrick about the Bible. This sparks interest in religion for Fredrick. After learning about the Bible, he uses this source to teach children about literacy and religion.…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave written by, none other than himself, Frederick Douglass presents to the reader several instances in which the fellow slaves that he knew, a vast majority of them family and friends, were whipped nearly to death and were inflicted upon the most horrible crimes known to man. Through these stories from his past, the reader is shown how cruel and emotionally scarring to the individual slavery was and why it should never have happened. By the end of his narration, Douglass manages to express to the reader through his appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos, the need for slavery, as inhumane and unjust as it was, to come to an end.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Visualize the torment being separated from your family at birth and being forced to work untill your back breaks. This is what many slaves had to endure while captive. During this time, many people thought that slavery was fine. Despite this, there were a select brave few who would fight for the rights of slaves. These people were known as abolitionists, and they changed the world for the better. In summary, there were many people who fought for the rights of slavesf…

    • 601 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    One of the most noticeable themes in the narrative involves the association of literacy with freedom. The acquisition of one caused his desire for the other. In occasions, he had regrets about his acquired knowledge because he still didn’t have the ability to change his status as slave, which made him feel more miserable than ever. However, Douglass's ability to tell his story in his own words definitely contradicted the commonly held belief at the time that slaves were incapable of communicating through the standard conventions of American literature.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Heroes are not famous. Heroes are those forgotten into days society because they do not flaunt their actions for everybody to see. Certainly not a football star who donates to charities out of the millions they earn in a single paycheck since that is giving when you have everything or their manager told them it would look good. Or the people that sit behind the desk for a charity instead of adventuring to the places that need that support and help. A hero is someone who is not ignorant to the problems in the world and devotes him or her selves to building their vision of an exceptional world on a based on honesty.…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When he returned, Douglass created a few abolitionist daily papers: The North Star, Frederick Douglass Weekly, Frederick Douglass' Paper, Douglass' Monthly and New National Era. Other than being an abolitionist he was likewise a supporter of women's' rights. In 1848, he was the only African American that went to the first women's rights rally at Seneca Falls, New York. At the time of the Civil War Douglass was at that point a standout amongst the most well known black men in the nation. So he utilized his influence to change the parts and status of African Americans amid the war. In 1863, Douglass met with President Abraham Lincoln in regards to the treatment of black soldiers, and later with President Andrew Johnson on the subject of black…

    • 200 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the Narrative of a Life of Frederick Douglass an American Slave, author Frederick Douglass shares his experiences as a slave in captivity, written after his escape to freedom, to give an inside look of exactly how slavery works: Throughout his testimony, Douglass confirms his fledgling sense that slavery is not a natural or justified form of society, but is rather a constructed power strategy supported by deprivation, mainly through education. Slaveowners accomplish this by depriving slaves of ‘basic knowledge’ as a tactic of dehumanization, but in spite, from there he begins to learn how to read and write and experiences what the power of education can do for a slave. Against all odds, through the power of education as Douglass becomes…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Frederick Douglass Cruel

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Frederick Douglass was a slave who was brought up in Maryland and even though the treatment for the slaves were less harsh as compared to the Deep South, but that does not mean that what Douglass has suffered were less in punishment and torture than the slaves in the Deep South. Douglass was raised in a slave plantation. The multiple slave holders that Douglass has experienced have a goal, which was to break their slaves. This means to basically emotionally and physically torture their slaves, so that they have no hope to be free from servitude and do not even think to rebel and question their masters. Where white men can enjoy their freedom and their manhood due to their superiority, however, Douglass demonstrates that black slaves…

    • 1031 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Frederick Douglass

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Douglass’s Narrative demonstrates the double purpose of the work as both a personal account and a public argument. Douglass introduces the reader to his own circumstances by telling his birthplace and the fact that he does not know his own age. He then generalizes from his own experience, explaining that almost no slaves know their true ages. Next, Douglass takes this detail of his experience and analyzes it. He points out that slave owners purposely keep their slaves ignorant, and that this is a tactic whites use to gain power over slaves. This is the structure Douglass uses in his Narrative. He presents his personal experience as a typical slave experience, and then usually makes a point about the experience and what it tells us about how slavery works and why it is wrong.…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Frederick Douglass Paper

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages

    For this year’s I.P., I picked Frederick Douglass to be my topic. The reason I picked him was because he was a great man and a well known abolitionist figure. He dedicated his life to opposing slavery. I have always admired Douglass since my first grade teacher told my class about him. Once I researched a little about him, mainly the time period of his life, I realized he was a perfect choice for my I.P. topic. He interested me and I could easily get plenty of information on him.…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Beloved Frederick Douglass

    • 1913 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Frederick Douglass once said “A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as observation to appreciate it”. Douglass reflects on the aftermath of the civil war, and although the slaves were now freed, the nation as a whole needed to comprehend the damage that occurred. In both Beloved, by Toni Morrison, and The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass, the excruciating pain inflicted upon the slaves appears in both fiction and nonfiction. The differences of the two most prominently appears in the detail of the stories, Douglass’s in less detail, and Morrison’s in explicit detail. Publishing Douglass’s autobiography…

    • 1913 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays