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Narrative of frederick douglass analysis
Narrative of frederick douglass analysis
African American struggle for freedom
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Frederick Douglass was self-educated and the most significant abolitionist speaker, he wrote his first autobiography “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave” in 1845. The book gives the reader in-depth details of the oppression that Douglass has experienced before his escape to freedom. Douglass describes the information of brutality and humanizing treatment by the slaveowner. He shows the reader of the pain and enduring that slaves have experienced and how he battled for his freedom through acquiring education. The massage in his first autobiography was a turning point in the American history, inspire the abolitionist movement against the slavery, advocating women’s right. Douglass’s intellect filled in as proof …show more content…
to the American people whether black or white. His speeches display a critical role in the liberation of the slaves and the way Black American was seen for many years. In this essay, I will focus on the goal that Frederick Douglass fought against slavery, how he addressed the case against the slavery to show that slavery should be ended. Frederick Douglass was born into the slavery in 1817 or 1818 in Talbot county, Maryland.
Similarly to other slaves, Douglass has no clue about the exact date of his birth. As it states in his autobiography that “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it” (1). He was separated from his mother since he was born. He was mixed race; his mother was of a darker complexion and she died when Douglass was 10 years of age. On the other hand, his father was a white man, and most likely their white master, Captain Anthony. At his young age, Douglass was moved to Wye town plantation, his life on the plantation was not as hard as other slaves, he served in the household not in the field. Later, Douglass was moved to Baltimore, to live with Mr. Hugh Auld, Captain Anthony’s son-in-law’s brother. In Baltimore, Douglass appreciated a moderately more liberated life because slaveowners were more conscious of seeming remorseless or careless toward their slaves in front of their non-slave neighbors. When Douglass lived in Baltimore, he was taught to read and write by Hugh Auld’s wife, Sofia. However, Mr. Auld soon ordered Sofia to stop by telling her that it was unlawful as well as unsafe to give slave education. However, Douglass still managed to learn more by the help of the local children in the area. As he learns how to read, he becomes more conscious that the slavery is evil and the existence of the abolitionists or “anti-slavery movement”.
His first hearing the term “abolition”, he struggled to find the meaning of the word but eventually he succeeds when he attained some newspaper and read about the political endeavors. It was through reading that sparks Douglass’s ideological against the slavery system, he as well referred to “the Columbian orator” with clarification his view on human rights. After the death of Captain Anthony, he was sent back to serve Thomas Auld, Anthony’s son-in-law. Thomas considered Douglass unmanageable, so he sent him to Edward Convey, who had a reputation of “slave-breaker”. Convey constantly tortured and abused Douglass and eventually Douglass decided to fight back. As a result, Convey lost a physical confrontation with Douglass and Convey never beat him ever again. Later, Douglass was sent to William Freeman, now Douglass began to educate other slaves how to read and write, the lesson went secretly from Mr. Freeman. However, other plantation owners noticed about their slaves being educated. So one day, they burst into the gathering to scatter the assemblage of the slaves. In the end, Douglass was escaped to the north, proclaimed justice, began his abolitionist movement against the slavery until he died in 1985.
In his self-titled chronicle, "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave", the author presents his audience with a memorable description of his resourcefulness in how he learned to write. His determination to shake off the bonds of illiteracy imposed by his slaveholders created in him the ability to conquer obstacles that held many slaves back. His mastery of the basic steps of the written language would one day play a central role in his success as a free man. The way these skills were acquired teaches us not only of his willpower, but also of his ingenuity as well. The outcome of his efforts culminated in an inimitable slave-narrative, as well as a career as one of the most famous abolitionists that this country would ever know.
Frederick Douglass, an African American social reformer who escaped from slavery, in his autobiography “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself,” denotes the perilous life of a slave in the South. Through syntax, Douglass is able to persuade his readers to support the abolitionist movement as his writing transitions from shifting sentence lengths to parallel structure and finally to varying uses of punctuation. Douglass begins his memoir with a combination of long and short sentences that serve to effectively depict life his life as a slave. This depiction is significant because it illustrates the treatment of slaves in the south allows his audience to despise the horrors of slavery. In addition, this
Literature is written in many ways and styles. During his time, Frederick Douglass’s works and speeches attracted many people’s attention. With the amount of works and speeches Douglass has given, it has influenced many others writers to express themselves more freely. Though Douglass lived a rigorous childhood, he still made it the best that he could, with the guidance and teaching of one of his slave owner’s wife he was able to read and write, thus allowing him to share his life stories and experiences. Douglass’s work today still remain of great impact and influence, allowing us to understand the reality of slavery, and thus inspiring many others to come out and share for others to understand.
From before the country’s conception to the war that divided it and the fallout that abolished it, slavery has been heavily engrained in the American society. From poor white yeoman farmers, to Northern abolitionist, to Southern gentry, and apathetic northerners slavery transformed the way people viewed both their life and liberty. To truly understand the impact that slavery has had on American society one has to look no further than those who have experienced them firsthand. Frederick Douglass, an escaped slave and advocate for the abolitionist, is on such person. Douglass was a living contradiction to American society during his time. He was an African-American man, self-taught, knowledgeable, well-spoken, and a robust writer. Douglass displayed a level of skill that few of his people at the time could acquire. With his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave Written by Himself, Douglass captivated the people of his time with his firsthand accounts into the horror and brutality that is the institution of slavery.
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 sum, all of these key arguments exist in “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” because of the institution of slavery and its resulting lack of freedom that was used to defend it. This text’s arguments could all be gathered together under the common element of inequality and how it affected the practical, social, and even spiritual lives of the slaves.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass written by Frederick Douglass himself is a brutally honest portrayal of slavery's dehumanizing capabilities. The style of this famous autobiography can be best described as personal, emotional, and compelling. By writing this narrative, Douglass wants his audience to understand him. He does this by speaking informally like a person would when writing a letter or telling a story to a friend. By clearly establishing his credibility and connecting with his audience, Douglass uses numerous rhetorical devices to argue for the immorality of slavery.
In order for Douglass to reach his goal of becoming a free man he thought the only way out was education. He needed to learn how to read, write, and think for himself about what slavery was. Since literacy and education were so powerful to Frederick he persevered to get himself the education he wanted. …. Douglass knew it wouldn’t be easy, but that didn’t stop him. Douglass realized the “ conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with a high hope, and
Slave owners in the South were some of the most cruel and inhumane human beings out there. They used many tactics to maintain a prosperous system of slavery amongst them. Like many, Frederick Douglass was born a slave. Deprived of as much as possible, Douglass knew not much more than his place of birth. Masters were encouraged to dispossess slaves of any knowledge and several of them did not know their birthdays or other personal details of themselves. The purpose of this was to keep slaves as misinformed of anything other than labor as possible. Slave owners knew the dangers that would upraise if slaves became literate and brave enough to fight for freedom.
In, “The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass”, readers get a first person perspective on slavery in the South before the Civil War. The author, Frederick Douglass, taught himself how to read and write, and was able to share his story to show the evils of slavery, not only in regard to the slaves, but with regard to masters, as well. Throughout Douglass’ autobiography, he shares his disgust with how slavery would corrupt people and change their whole entire persona. He uses ethos, logos, and pathos to help establish his credibility, and enlighten his readers about what changes needed to be made.
In The Narrative of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, an African American male describes his day as a slave and what he has become from the experience. Douglass writes this story to make readers understand that slavery is brutalizing and dehumanizing, that a slave is able to become a man, and that he still has intellectual ability even though he is a slave. In the story, these messages are shown frequently through the diction of Frederick Douglass.
Douglass wrote three biographies about his life as a politician, slave, and abolitionist. However, the historical value of these works does not remain as important as the quality of the works themselves. Frederick Douglass’ writing deserves recognition in the canon of great American authors, because his work meets the chosen criteria for inclusion in a collection of important literature. Douglass influenced many famous abolitionists with his literary works, and this impact, coupled with his desire to write an expose about oppression in America, makes him a winning candidate. Although his published works, mostly autobiographies, received much acclaim from abolitionists, this paper explores the quality of Douglass’s work from a literary standpoint. This paper also details the events shaping Douglass’s impressive life and writing career. By examining the prestigious “life and times” of this black author, the reader will recognize the widespread influence of Douglass’s writing on other antislavery writers, politics, and hence, the public. In a look at his first and greatest work, Narrative of the Life, the following paper will demonstrate why Frederick Douglass deserves a place in the hall of great American writers. To fully appreciate the impact of Douglass’s autobiographies, we must examine violent period in which he lived. Douglass, born in 1818, grew up as a slave on Colonel Lloyd’s plantation in eastern Maryland. At the time, abolitionist movements started gaining speed as popular parties in the North. In the North, pro-slavery white mobs attacked black communities in retaliation for their efforts. By the time Douglass escaped from slavery, in 1838, tensions ran high among abolitionists and slaveowners. Slaves published accounts of their harrowing escapes, and their lives in slavery, mainly with the help of ghostwriters. Although abolitionists called for the total elimination of slavery in the South, racial segregation still occurred all over the United States. Blacks, freemen especially, found the task of finding a decent job overwhelming.
When first introduced to Douglass and his story, we find him to be a young slave boy filled with information about those around him. Not only does he speak from the view point of an observer, but he speaks of many typical stereotypes in the slave life. At this point in his life, Frederick is inexperienced and knows nothing of the pleasures of things such as reading, writing, or even the rights everyone should be entitled to. Douglass knowing hardly anything of his family, their whereabouts, or his background, seems to be equivalent to the many other slaves at the time. As a child Frederick Douglass sees the injustices around him and observes them, yet as the story continues we begin to see a change.
As both the narrator and author of “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave, Written by Himself” Frederick Douglass writes about his transition from a slave to a well educated and empowered colored young man. As a skilled and spirited man, he served as both an orator and writer for the abolitionist movement, which was a movement to the abolishment of slavery. At the time of his narrative’s publication, Douglass’s sole goal of his writings was to essentially prove to those in disbelief that an articulate and intelligent man, such as himself, could have,in fact, been enslaved at one point in time. While, Douglass’ narrative was and arguably still is very influential, there are some controversial aspects of of this piece, of which Deborah McDowell mentions in her criticism.
Throughout the book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave many themes are developed relating to slavery. Such themes that are well developed include corruption, brutality, and knowledge. Perhaps the most important theme that was developed was knowledge and its power in everything. Frederick Douglass gained knowledge throughout his life, defying the laws surrounding slavery. Perhaps one of the most impressive things from the life of Frederick Douglass was the fact that, except for a few months at the beginning of his engagement with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, he was a self taught man who took it upon himself to expand his knowledge. Frederick Douglass discovered the power of knowledge and applied this to his life in many different stages. First, he discovered that knowledge is power. Second, he went out of his way to obtain all the knowledge he could. Third, he used that knowledge, that he had gained over years and years of self-taught, underground learning, and used it to run away from the brutal life of a slave. Finally, he used the knowledge he had gained to publicly speak against the institution of slavery and make it a point to earn the right of universal suffrage for all men. He presented many ideas, which we today, can see were very strong and moral convictions from his views as an abolitionist.