What was the author's purpose? Is it worthwhile?* The author Frederick Douglas had two main purposes when writing his memoir, the first one was to demonstrate the harsh and cruel world that slaves lived through during that period. This is exemplified by Douglas when he describes how his masters separated him from his mother and he describes a brutal whipping of Aunt Hester as “ causing blood to blood to run an hour at the time; and this, too, in the presence of her crying children” (Douglas 7). The second purpose that Douglas had to write this memoir was to show how he overcame great pain and challenge. For example during the few chapters where he is loaned to Mr. Covey, Douglas must resist the near constant pain that is inflicted on him, …show more content…
This allows for the reader to see the punishment that Douglas is going through, and garner sympathy for his cause. Another detail that Douglas focuses on when dealing with his master’s is the physical abuse that he and the other slaves must endure, for example during his stay at Captain Anthony's plantation he describes the condition, which include; lack of food, lack of shelter, and lack of proper clothing. The author also focuses on how his master constantly beat him and other slaves nearly to death in order to break them. As a result of his vivid descriptions douglas builds sympathy for his cause and focuses the reader's anger at the treatment of fellow human beings at his …show more content…
Why or why not?* After reading Douglas’s memoirs many would say that his ideas about freedom, are very important. The idea is so important because he's trying to frame it in a way that most people will understand. Another reason why this idea of freedom is so important is because at the time an ⅛ of people essentially had no freedom, they were under constant watch, and they were under constant control. This is important because essentially douglas is saying that slavery is a moral wrong. Overall this novel would go on to inspire to an entire movement to end slavery and that is why it is
The novel Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas was structured around the hardships of Douglass’ horrific and dreadful life as a slave and towards the later part of the novel addresses his life as a freeman. With no dates to follow in chronological order Douglass classifies his life in a sequence of the masters Douglass experiences. The novel had a total of eleven chapters each depicting a different stage of Douglass’ experience of being a slave.
In the “Narrative Life of Frederick Douglas” Frederick Douglas discuss his life of being born a slave to him escaping to the North for freedom. Since slavery wasn’t abolished until 1865 in the U.S. and Douglas didn’t publish his book until 1845, he wanted to show people the truth behind slavery and hopefully people would understand that slavery is not something that needs to be around no longer. Although, Douglas explains his life story and he also points out a few harsh moments other slaves have to go through as well. Therefore, the overall argument is slavery being abolish and how Douglas plans his escape.
The narrative enables Douglass to flaunt his hard-earned education. As stated before, his diction brings pathos to his work. He describes his experiences in a way that lets his audience feel the indignity of being owned by another person. For example, D...
One of the amazing things about the story is the level of description and imagery that Douglass uses to describe the suffering around him. The excerpt spans a mere three days, but most of the text focuses on his abuse and battle with Mr. Covey. Douglass skips over the common parts of his life to further his case against slavery. By doing this, the Northerners rea...
Slavery consisted of numerous inhumane horrors completed to make its victims feel desolated and helpless. Many inescapable of these horrors of slavery are conveyed in the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”. The entire prospect of the duration of the story is to plan an escape from the excruciating conditions awaiting Douglass as a slave. When his escape is finally executed, unpredictable emotions and thoughts overwhelm him. Within the conclusion of his narrative (shown in the given passage), Frederick Douglass uses figurative language, diction, and syntax to portray such states of mind he felt after escaping slavery: relief, loneliness, and paranoia.
In this final research analysis, I will be doing a comparison between the “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” and the “Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” to show how both Douglass and Rowlandson use a great deal of person strength and faith in God to endure their life and ultimately gain their freedom.
According to the New York City writing project at Lehman College ,“... Reading, writing and thinking are interrelated activities that contribute to the student’s success in school, college, the community and the workplace.” Reading and writing and thinking are associated with each other and can actually help people reach success through the power of reflection. Reflection is being able to think of our past and present experience and really analyze how we can become better. Reflection also allows one to better understand what is going on around us. Frederick Douglass and Amy Tan’s literacy and language allowed them to achieve success through reflection. Frederick Douglass was a slave that learned how to read and write even besides the
Frederick Douglass’ source, “The Desire for Freedom” was written in 1845. He was born into slavery in 1818 and became an important figure in the fight for abolition. Douglass was also involved in other reform movements such as the women’s rights movement. He “experienced slavery in all its variety, from work as a house servant and as a skilled craftsman in Baltimore shipyard to labor as a plantation field hand” (Pg.207¬). “The Desire for Freedom” was meant to document how his life was within slavery and how his education could someday help him escape it. Douglass meant to speak to American slaves and those who did not really understand slavery in order to help persuade everyone that life was meant to be lived freely. In order to obtain this future, Douglass wrote about his own personal experience and how he believed that enslavers were “in no other light than a band of successful robbers, who had left their homes, and gone to Africa, and stolen us from our homes, and in a strange land reduced us to slavery” (Pg. 208). This source brings on the idea that slaves were willing to fight back, wanted to be educated, and, most importantly, wanted the chance to live life freely.
At first glance, the book “my bondage and my freedom by Frederick Douglass appeared to be extremely dull and frustrating to read. After rereading the book for a second time and paying closer attention to the little details I have realized this is one of the most impressive autobiographies I have read recently. This book possesses one of the most touching stories that I have ever read, and what astonishes me the most about the whole subject is that it's a true story of Douglass' life. “ Douglass does a masterful job of using his own experience to expose the injustice of slavery to the world. As the protagonist he is able to keep the reader interested in himself, and tell the true story of his life. As a narrator he is able to link those experiences to the wider experiences of the nation and all society, exposing the corrupting nature of slavery to the entire nation.”[1] Although this book contributes a great amount of information on the subject of slavery and it is an extremely valuable book, its strengths are overpowered by its flaws. The book is loaded with unnecessary details, flowery metaphors and intense introductory information but this is what makes “My Bondage and My Freedom” unique.
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.
The book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass can be interpreted in many ways. It is an autobiography that details Douglass’s experiences while he was enslaved. However, it is evident that he has been forced to censor the content of his narrative. Douglass mentions more than once that he is not able to say everything he desires. Moreover, on the surface the book is about the harshness of his life as a slave, but on a deeper level Douglass uses irony to give a compelling criticism of the institution of slavery. In his account he gives sarcastic descriptions of the privileges the slaves receive and what it looks like for slaves to be treated well. Nevertheless, both techniques of writing are effective
In his early years, Douglas lived on a farm where he watched many slaves receive harsh beatings and whippings. For example, one of his masters whipped his Aunt Hester because she was not there when he desired her presence. At the time she was in the company of another man, which was something that Colonel Lloyd, her master, told her not to do. As Douglas witnessed the whipping, he saw Lloyd take his aunt into the kitchen of the house and strip her naked. He then told her to cross her hands and as he tied them together and hung her on a hook, leaving her body totally open. Lloyd then began whipping her with a cow skin until she began to bleed. “I was so terrified and horror-stricken at the sight, that I hid myself in a closet, and dare not venture out till long after the bloody transaction was over” (p. 4). As a result of witnessing many beatings such as this, Douglas was able to put much feeling and heart into his works.
In this narrative, Douglass describes his life as a slave in ways that is brutalizing and dehumanizing. He wants his readers to understand that concept. By doing this, Douglass writes, “I was seized with a violent aching of the head, attended with extreme dizziness; I trembled in every limb” (416). Douglass uses diction such as seized, aching, extreme dizziness, and trembled to help create a picture of the pain he had felt during his experiences of being a slave for Mr. Covey. Another example is when he writes, “I told him as well as I could, for I scarce had strength to speak. He then gave me a savage kick in the side, and told me to get up I tried to do so, but fell back in the attempt. He gave me another kick, and again told me to rise. I again tried, and succeeded in gaining my feet; but stooping to get the tub with which I was feeding the fan, I again staggered and fell” (416-17). Words like scarce, savage, and staggered place imagery into the reader’s minds of what he went through as a slave. One other way that Douglass shows how his words emphasize the message is when he writes, “The blood was yet oozing from the wound on my head. For a time I thought I should bleed to death; and think now that I should have done so, but that the blood so matted my hair as to stop the w...
In the Autobiography, “Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglas: An American Slave,” Fredrick Douglas writes to show what the life of a slave is like, because from personal experience, he knows. Fredrick Douglas not only shows how his life has been as a slave but shows what it is like to be on the bottom and be mistreated. Douglas shows that freedom isn’t free, and he took the initiative to become a free man. Not many African-Americans had the opportunity to make themselves free and were forced to live a life of disparity and torture. Through his experience Douglas shows us the psychological effects of slavery. Through Douglas’s memory we are able to relive the moments that continued to haunt his life. Douglas’s book showed the true
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, brings to light many of the social injustices that colored men, women, and children all were forced to endure throughout the nineteenth century under Southern slavery laws. Douglass's life-story is presented in a way that creates a compelling argument against the justification of slavery. His argument is reinforced though a variety of anecdotes, many of which detailed strikingly bloody, horrific scenes and inhumane cruelty on the part of the slaveholders. Yet, while Douglas’s narrative describes in vivid detail his experiences of life as a slave, what Douglass intends for his readers to grasp after reading his narrative is something much more profound. Aside from all the physical burdens of slavery that he faced on a daily basis, it was the psychological effects that caused him the greatest amount of detriment during his twenty-year enslavement. In the same regard, Douglass is able to profess that it was not only the slaves who incurred the damaging effects of slavery, but also the slaveholders. Slavery, in essence, is a destructive force that collectively corrupts the minds of slaveholders and weakens slaves’ intellects.