preview

Compare And Contrast Frederick Douglas And Chief Seattle

Decent Essays

Mrs. Lyons Frederick Douglass vs. Chief Seattle Frederick Douglas and Chief Seattle both experienced disadvantages because of their race and culture around the years 1850-1855. Frederick Douglass was a former slave abolitionist who fought to change America and the Africans who were enslaved in it. Chief Seattle was the leader of the Suquamish Tribe and he too was determined to change the citizen’s perspective about how his people were being treated. Both authors wrote compelling letters/speeches to the President to convince him and the citizens to spark change for their race by using pathos, description, and cause/effect in their dialogue. Douglass and Seattle use pathos to evoke a certain emotion out of the reader in order to make them feel the same way as they do. Douglass uses examples to stir emotion. He says, “What am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks…” Douglass continues on with more examples highlighting the injustice to draw an emotion out of the reader. Chief Seattle uses pathos but in a different way. Instead of pulling examples from the past, he foreshadows to future problems that could occur. He says, “All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth.” Seattle also uses religion. “Our God is the same God. You may think that you own him as you wish to own our land, but you cannot.” When religion is placed in the mix, emotions stir; it becomes more personal to the reader because they can relate on a certain level. In order to get their points across effectively and proficiently, Douglass and Seattle used description. Both authors use description to help the reader form an image in their mind. This tool helps the writer create a connection with the reader with the use of details. Frederick Douglass describes in detail the wrongs he and his people experienced through slavery. He says, “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.” It’s essential that Douglass uses

Get Access