Frederick Douglass Figurative Language Analysis

| Symbolism | Imagery | Figurative Language | Theme | Tone | Significant Passages (Pgs. 20, 25, 62, 63, 64, 67, 75) | “Our house stood within a few rods of the Chesapeake Bay, whose broad bosom was ever white with sails from every quarter of the habitable globe. Those beautiful vessels, robed in purest white, so delightful to the eye of freemen, were to me so many shrouded ghosts…” (Douglass 63).“I at first rejected the idea, that the simple carrying of a root in my pocket would have any such effect as he had said, and was not disposed to take it; but Sandy impressed the necessity with much earnestness…” (Douglass 67). | “After buying her; he hired a married man of Mr. Samuel Harrison, to live with him one year; and him he used to fasten
“He was immediately chained and handcuffed; and thus, without a moment's warning, he was snatched away, and forever sundered, from his family and friends, by a hand more unrelenting than death” (Douglass 30). | “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 close in upon me…” (Douglass 63).“A representative could not be prouder of his election to a seat in the American Congress than a slave on one of the out-farms would be of his election to do errands at the Great House Farm” (Douglass 25). | “You are loosed from your moorings, and are free; I am fast in my chains, and am a slave! You move merrily before the
To him, the ships symbolize freedom and it just comes to show it comes in different forms and names. Douglass doesn't seem to believe this, but he wears the root on his right side in order to settle Sandy. The root is a symbol of a traditional African approach to religion and belief. | Douglass doesn't talk about women very often, and when he does, he usually associates them with suffering. He makes a special point of describing the traumatic sight of female slaves being beaten and abused.Here Douglass is describing how when you take a slave away from their family it is just worse than death, and slaves are more afraid of being taken away from their family. It could happen in an instant, with no warning, and for no reason. | The use of types of weather as a main cause of being a broken spirit is fitting; much like people feel gloomy and down on a rainy day. The repetition of the word work, and the repetition and constant deed of Douglass' work plays a role in the chapter.Slaves selected to work in the Great House Farm instead of the fields was a great honor, but Douglass is being ironic. After all, even a slave in the Great House is still a slave but they were happy to be at a better place. | Douglass demands to know how God can exist if He allows Douglass to be a slave. But instead of turning against God, Douglass turns