Frederick Douglass Use Of Ethos Pathos Logos

After about nine chapters detailing his slave life, he says, “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.” (Douglass, 75) He then goes on to describe the turning point for him that sparked his quest for freedom. By structuring his narrative this way, he reveals both sides- how slavery broke him “in body, soul, and spirit” (Douglass, 73) and how it eventually “rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom” within him (Douglass, 80). In doing so, he gives the reader an insight into how he became himself, and reinforces the evils of slavery in the way it shapes a man’s life. Douglass’ use of diction and structure effectively persuades the reader of the barbarity and inhumanity that comes as a result of slavery.

It also shows the sense of ownership slaves master’s felt that they had over them. Back then it was common for one man to own another man and to them it was the norm. In today’s society, most would look at owning another human as irrational. Douglass used logos to get the readers on his side. He wanted them to look at the master as a bad person; he wanted the readers to think logically.

Douglass tells the reader, “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man” (1211). As simple as this statement may seem, it is absolutely dripping with meaning, and it would not be a great

In his harsh, angry speech, Frederick Douglass mocks the audience in a fight against slavery. He makes considerably accurate and biting arguments towards those who regard slavery as an outstanding example of American freedom. “There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.” He modifies his statements through rhetorical strategies including tone, ethos, and pathos and creates a magnificently harsh speech worthy of fame.

Throughout history, slavery or the life of a slave is often taught which leads to many minds getting terrified due to all the horror that slaves had to face. Many slaves do not have the opportunity to tell what their life was really like, but Frederick Douglass does and he does it by using emotions.

To start off, Douglass uses the rhetorical appeal, logos, to denounce the actions of the slave owners. Douglass describes the characteristics of a cruel overseer, Mr. Severe. “He died very soon after… and he died as he lived, uttering… bitter curses and horrid oaths” (Douglass, 19). The contrast in the two words “died” and “lived” also relates to logic, or rather the lack of logic, because his horrible actions caused him to die a horrible death. It shows that slaveholders are hard-headed on their attitudes on slavery, which uncovers the lack of compassion displayed by the slave owners. To build on, the word “oath” signifies having Christian values. Typically, Christians take oaths to never lie and to speak the truth, yet slave owners allow themselves to lie to their own beliefs when they treat slaves as if they were not human. Slave owners justify the way they act, by dehumanizing slaves and treating them as animals or property. Furthermore, Mrs. Auld, the wife of a slave owner, demonstrates how slavery rots the soul of slave owners. She starts out teaching young Douglass how to read and write and then becomes just like all the other corrupted slave owners. “The tender heart became stone, and the lamb-like disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness” (Douglass, 34). In the quote, Douglass uses an antithesis varying in words such as, “tender” and “stone”. Contrasting words appeal to logos, because this evidence helps justify the argument that slavery transforms slave owners, in this case, Mrs. Auld. He also uses animals “lamb” and “tiger” to emphasize the similarities of animals and slaves at this time. It can also relate to

Douglass uses pathos to describe life as a slave. Page 12 states “ The hearing of those wild notes always depressed my spirit, and filled me with ineffable sadness. I have frequently found myself in tears while hearing them”.” He uses strong words to build an emotional connection to reader describing how the songs of slavery affect him. He uses Logos when he explains the amount of physical pain slaves experience. Page 21 states “ Breaking her nose and breastbone with a stick, so that the poor girl expired in a few hours afterward. “ This is a logical explanation that the overseer Mr. Gore was a cruel and merciless man. Douglass uses Ethos almost throughout the entire book because he establishes credibility when he describes his life as a slave. Page 1 explains “ I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. “ Slaves were never given their real birth date, so Frederick Douglass never knew his accurate

In the pre-civil war era, slaves did not obtain any human rights so slave owners treated them in any manner they wanted, which often consisted of cruelty. Douglass uses this cruel simile to compare the escape from landowners to one from an inhumane animal. Further allowing for a visual interpretation that arose when these slaves escaped. Douglas uses creepy imagery to allow for the acknowledgement that slaves encountered and provoke the type of fear they faced upon the audience. In using both imagery and similes, Douglass grants the individuals a visualization of the risks these slaves took when they escaped to obtain their freedom, as well as creating remorse for the fear and cruel treating provoked.

To begin, Douglass uses imagery to describe the heart wrenching experience of a slave child on a plantation. Without adequate food or clothing, slave children begin the process of dehumanization. Denied blankets or beds, the children slept on the cold and damp floor and Douglass describes with horrid detail his “feet [being] so cracked with the frost, that the pen which [he is] writing might be laid in the gashes”(1836). This painful description creates empathy for a mistreated child whose only “crime” results from his birth to a black mother. In the most dehumanizing comparison, Douglass uses animal imagery to reveal the conditions and manner in which the children are fed. Douglass writes:

To display the common treatment of slaves, Douglass develops pathos when describing his first exposure to slavery and the brutal treatment of Aunt Hester. He gives a detailed description of her “heart-rending shrieks” when she was forced to endure countless lashings and beatings (Douglass, 24). Additionally, he describes the mentality of Captain Anthony, the slave owner, by stating that “the louder [Hester] screamed, the harder he whipped” (Douglass, 23). By describing the punishments that his aunt was forced to face and the deliberateness of Captain Anthony’s actions, Douglass develops pathos, which exposes the audience to the harsh nature of slavery and makes them pity the slaves who were forced to endure this treatment. It shows the audience that slaves were forced to endure pain if they did not listen to their masters and could not

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick explains the slave owners want to keep their slaves as ignorant and illiterate as possible because the more knowledgeable a slave becomes the more “unmanageable” he will become. He will start to develop ideas on his own and question the authority of his masters. For example, Douglass explains that most slaves do not even know the date of their birth, “By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (Douglass 47). Not knowing their age or birth date is a way for slave owners to show authority over their slaves and to try to keep them as ignorant as possible. They

slaves uninformed. At the time Douglass was writing, many people thought that slavery was a

Annotations from Frederick Douglass By far the large part of the slaves know as little of their age as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. [Ch. 1, p. 39.] ‘Ignorant’ is the key word in this passage. Slaves seemed to be valued because of their ignorance. As long as they followed their master’s wishes and didn’t raise any questions, they were being “manageable slaves”. Not letting the slaves have their own identities and background made it easier for their masters to control them. It is also interesting how Douglass compares a slave to a horse. It may be upsetting to the reader to see a human treated the same way as a horse. This dehumanizes the slaves in a

Amongst the injustice and brutality of slavery is the exclusion of education and knowledge. The slaveholder would tactically deprive the slaves of any knowledge because it would expose them of slavery’s injustice. This act dehumanized the slaves to a great extent, and at the same time forbade them to pursue any form of freedom, physically or spiritually. Hugh Auld, Douglass’s master reasoned that “it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read” and believed “If you have a nigger an inch, he will take an ell.” (Douglass 40, 41) Auld advocated his reasoning by calling a slave “unmanageable,” “unhappy,” and “discontented” if enlightened. Douglass however understood differently. The withdrawal of literacy and knowledge, he believed, was one of the greater factors keeping blacks inferior to whites in society. The Narrative also documents the many physiological effects of slaveholding. Douglass carefully explains the masters whipping their slaves when they least deserve it, and overlooking their deeds when they most deserve it. The killing of a slave is also considered the least of an offense or crime, and is simply gone

experience to persuade the readers that slavery is cold-blooded and cruel. Douglass uses many rhetorical