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Frederick douglass literary analysis essay
The use of irony
Frederick douglass literary analysis essay
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Frederick Douglass uses irony to challenge the ideology of slavery when describing some of the overseers in the book. For example he describes Mr. Gore as what is called a first-rate overseer. He is implying that Mr. Gore is a good overseer to those with no sense of justice. One example of irony in the book is , “Indeed, it is not uncommon for slaves to fall out and quarrel among themselves about the relative goodness of their masters, each contending for the superior goodness of his own over that of others,” (62). This is ironic because the slaves are fighting about keeping a good reputation for the masters that treat them horribly. Another example is, “…it is almost an unpardonable offence to teach to teach slaves to read in a Christian
The hopeful and then helpless tones in Douglass' passage reflect his inner turmoil throughout the process of his escape from the wretched south. At first, Frederick Douglass feels the utter feeling of happiness covering every inch of his body and soul. However, he soon finds out that the rosy path has thorns that dug into his skin as freedom was dangled in front of his face through a tunnel of complete darkness.
Frederick Douglass wrote in his 1845 autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, about the devastation associated with slavery and the destruction from which comes desperation. Douglass intends to summon upon the guilt and empathy of his white audience by giving an account from which the reader is able to coax up a new perspective on the dreadful oppression. Seen especially in the third paragraph where Douglass provides a series of rhetorical devices including: apostrophe, anaphora, personification, exemplum, and epithet in his sorrowful bellowing to passing ships.
In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, a slave narrative published in 1845, Frederick Douglass divulged his past as a slave and presented a multifaceted argument against slavery in the United States. Douglass built his argument with endless anecdotes and colorful figurative language. He attempted to familiarize the naïve Northerners with the hardships of slavery and negate any misconstrued ideas that would prolong slavery’s existence in American homes. Particularly in chapter seven, Douglass both narrated his personal experience of learning to write and identified the benefits and consequences of being an educated slave.
In Frederick Douglass's memoir, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass descriptly describes his life growing up as a slave and how he escaped slavery. The quote, “the fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became angry with rage; that voice made of all sweet accord; changed to one harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon” is very important part of the memoir (Douglass 19). He is describing the time in his life when his master’s wife stopped teaching and him and became mean. Sophia Adul became a slave to her own husband, Hugh Adul.
In using descriptions of slave life, ironic situations, and general frankness, Douglass is appealing to the emotions of his audience. Douglass is letting people know of the terrors of slavery by touching their emotions. He gets them motivated by being interesting and then builds upon this by describing his life in simple terms that all humans can relate to.
Frederick Douglass uses the rhetorical appeal, ethos, in two specific ways: to provide the credence of his statements and to identify himself to the reader. Douglass uses his writing skills to provide a familiar perception to which his readers are accustomed. He does not provide exact dates to accompany his story, because slaves back then were kept ignorant, as Douglass states, “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it” (Douglass 19). Our culture thrives on important dates such as, someone’s birthday, a holiday, or an anniversary, etc., and Douglass was blind to all of these events. He identifies himself as a normal human being, when in fact, he has had what seems like to us, a completely
Douglass uses irony to bring a point across to his audience, with the recounting of his own heritage. He explains that his separation after birth from his mother, a slave, and a majority of his foul treatment is likely because his white father feels a need to destroy the lives of his bastard children in order to reassert devotion to
America in the mid to early nineteenth century saw the torture of many African Americans in slavery. Plantation owners did not care whether they were young or old, girl or boy, to them all slaves were there to work. One slave in particular, Frederick Douglass, documented his journey through slavery in his autobiography Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Through the use of various rhetorical devices and strategies, Douglass conveys the dehumanizing and corrupting effect of slavery, in order to show the overall need for American abolition. His use of devices such as parallelism, asyndeton, simile, antithesis, juxtaposition and use of irony, not only establish ethos but also show the negative effects of slavery on slaves, masters and
Rhetorically, Douglass was a master of irony, as illustrated by his famous Fourth of July speech in 1852: "This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn," he declared. Then he accused his unsuspecting audience in Roch...
Deviating from his typically autobiographical and abolitionist literatures, Frederick Douglass pens his first work of fiction, “The Heroic Slave,” the imagined backstory of famed ex-slave Madison Washington, best known for his leadership in a slave rebellion aboard about the slave ship Creole. An interesting plot and Douglass’ word choice provide a powerful portrait of slavery and the people affected by it.
As you know, many people in history have shown their perseverance and leave a big mark in the history. Frederick Douglass is the best examples that show perseverance through his life. Frederick was born into slavery around 1818 in Talbot County, Maryland. At that time school for slaves were banned. Frederick first learns alphabet when he was around 12 from Mrs. Auld. Later on, Mr. Auld forbade his wife, he didn’t gave up learning, instead he learns from the other white kids and the neighbor kids. He knows that red and write is something that important for people that his owner doesn’t want him to know. That’s one way that Frederick showing perseverance through learning. Another way that show his perseverance is the fight with Mr. Covey, the
For example, he explains to the reader that he would carry loaves of bread when sent on errands so that he could bargain with the local children for a reading or writing lesson. He admits "I was much better off in this regard than many of the poor white children in our neighborhood" (Douglass 101). This statement is ironic because Douglass himself was in a worse position, but instead, even as a 12-year-old Douglas acknowledges what little advantages he does have. Another example of irony is presented later in the essay, when Douglass is explaining his mental struggle, long after successfully learning how to read and write. He refers to his literacy as his "wretched condition" and even tells the reader "I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing" (Douglass 103). This statement is relevant because although Douglass 's fame in literary history, and that he is feeling burdened by this. This adds to the overall resolution of the essay because it adds a new element of mental discomfort instead of the physical and social discomfort associated with
In Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, one of the major themes is how the institution of slavery has an effect on the moral health of the slaveholder. The power slaveholders have over their slaves is great, as well as corrupting. Douglass uses this theme to point out that the institution of slavery is bad for everyone involved, not just the slaves. Throughout the narrative, Douglass uses several of his former slaveholders as examples. Sophia Auld, once such a kind and caring woman, is transformed into a cruel and oppressive slave owner over the course of the narrative. Thomas Auld, also. Douglass ties this theme back to the main concern of authorial control. Although this is a personal account, it is also a tool of propaganda, and is used as such. Douglass’s intent is to convince readers that the system of slavery is horrible and damaging to all included, and thus should be abolished completely. Douglass makes it very clear in his examples how exactly the transformation occurs and how kind and moral people can become those who beat their slaves and pervert Christianity in an attempt to justify it.
As Leonard Cohen once said, “There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in”. Nothing in life is perfect, and people are not an exception. One of the most efficient ways to demonstrate a flaw is irony. Through the use of irony in The Crucible, Arthur Miller highlights man’s inevitable fallibility.
The irony is also an example of showing character appeal. He is showing his attitude toward the society. As the reader reads his humorous and satirical essay, the reader would notice that there is irony everywhere. One example is when the Mark Twain discussed on page 7 paragraph 3 “Be respectful to your superiors, if you have any, also to strangers and sometimes to others.” (7). Even though he is telling the youth to respect your superiors. He also tells the youth that if they are ever offended or think you were offended, hit them with a brick. With that said how is the youth supposed to respect their superiors? Also, he mentions that in paragraph 3 “yes, always avoid violence; in this age of charity and kindliness, the times has gone by for such things,” (7) but he says hit people with bricks. Another example of irony is on page 7 paragraph 5 “you want to be very careful about lying,” (7) but he doesn’t tell the youth not to lie at all. Unlike most elderly people if they were giving advice. Which is very ironic how he is trying to let the youth know that it is appropriate to lie, but don’t get caught. Also, this is what brings me back to the quote “truth is mighty and will prevail.” If the youth are good liars, would this quote be truth? Can the truth over power a lie? That is what Mark Twain is trying to say, with good practice how would you ever get caught? He also refers to the lying