Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Rhetorical...

America’s history will be scarred forever by the evils of slavery which once existed here. Slaves lived lives of pain and hardship. But some, like the slave and later abolitionist Frederick Douglass, rose up from the tribulations of slavery and led the way for progress and change in America. In his autobiography â€Å"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass†, Douglass tells his inspiring yet harrowing story of his life as a slave in Maryland and his escape to freedom in New York and later Massachusetts, where he eventually became an abolitionist. Douglass masterfully uses ethos, pathos, and logos to craft his powerful narrative that exposes to his audience, the American people, the horrors, absurdity, and hypocrisy of slavery. Douglass’s†¦show more content†¦Using pathos, Douglass also is able to establish parts of his tone. When describing the whippings and how slaves were treated like animals, any reasonable person would expect Douglass to be enrag ed. He likely was, but he kept a calm, cool, collected and almost political tone. If he had let this anger show, he too would’ve likely been seen as an ‘animal’. These qualities of Douglass’s tone are even more evident when he employs ethos. Douglass uses ethos to establish his credibility. In fact, establishing his credibility is the very first thing Douglass does. During his lifetime, the word of a black man meant nothing without a white man’s testimony. (Douglass brings that up in chapter ten.) So Douglass begins his book with a preface by William Lloyd Garrison, a white man who was very involved in anti-slavery movements. Even though we don’t need this to comprehend his credibility, Douglass’s audience at the time would have. More importantly, Douglass also improves his credibility through his own writing. Douglass humbly discusses how he learned to be literate while still a slave by bargaining with white children. Being a literate slave would be a huge mark of credibility during the period. Douglass goes so far as to call it his â€Å"pathway to freedom†. The moment he realizes the power of his literacy is quite amazing. â€Å"That which to him was a great evil, to be carefully shunned, was to be a great good, to be diligently sought,† Douglass says. Not only was he able toShow MoreRelatedRhetorical Analysis Of The Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave Essay1096 Words   |  5 PagesChristie Chaplin Words Words words Learning to Lead: Rhetorical Strategies in Frederick Douglass’s â€Å"Learning to Read† Published in 1845, Frederick Douglass’s autobiography, â€Å"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave†, is a historical account of his life that told of the challenges and obstacles that plagued the lives of slaves in pursuing freedom from injustice and persecution from white wealthy slaveowners. 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