Black Boy1

741 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The work of Frederick Douglass

Black Boy1

Frederick Douglass and Richard Wright wrote memoirs recounting their experiences with racism. Though their writing styles are completely different from one another, the subjects they discuss are similar. After reading each piece they have both made me empathize with their feelings, however different their lives are from mine. Their memoirs, My Bondage My Freedom and Black Boy, provide insightful images of the racist and cruel treatment these writers experienced. Despite all of their stylistic differences, after both excerpts I understand the passion they felt for the hatred they endured.

The variation of the writers’ use of quotation marks provides insight to the degree of formality that Wright and Douglass express. Wright uses quotations frequently and exclusively in dialogue. Included within the quotes are the unjust requests, unfair news, and degrading remarks that infuriated him.

“‘Hello, Ned. What’s new?’ I asked.

‘You’ve heard, haven’t you?’ he asked.

‘About what?’

‘My brother, Bob?’

‘No, what happened?’

Ned began to weep softly.

‘They killed him,’ he managed to say.

‘The white folks?’ I asked in a whisper, guessing.

He sobbed his answer. Bob was dead; I had met him only a few times, but I felt that I had known him through his brother (p. 382).”

I feel as though I can hear the words just as he did. Richard Wright’s use of quotations is effective in creating an informal tone and expressing his feelings of powerlessness. It is a very effective tool for an empathetic reaction from the reader.

Douglass’ use of quotation marks is quite opposite from Wright’s. Screaming and song are only in quotes to place emphasis on the importance of the information he includes. “Let my mammy go”-“let my mammy go”, a child screams (p. 143). His economical use of quotes makes each outburst extremely powerful and passionate. This shout of terror makes it easy to feel the urgency Douglass felt.

Their use of “I” also attributes to the greater understanding of their cruel experiences. Frederick Douglass rarely refers to himself with “I”. He does, however, mention incidents that had a direct effect on him.

“Although my old master- Capt. Anthony- gave me at first, (as the reader will have already seen,) very little attention, and although that little was remarkably mild and gentle description, a few months only were sufficient to convince me that mildness and gentleness were not the prevailing or governing traits of his character (p.

Show More
Related

  • Use of Rhetorical Strategies in Richard Wright’s Autobiography, Black Boy

    468 Words  | 1 Pages

    Richard’s own identity as well as his personal identification of others is formed through language. For example, in Richard’s encounter with the Yankee, Richard used language to fill up the “yawning, shameful gap.” He uses personification to emphasize the awkwardness of their conversation. This awkwardness was a result of the Yankee’s probing questions. Richard described it as an “unreal-natured” conversation, but, paradoxically, he also admits, “of course the conversation was real; it dealt with my welfare.” The Yankee man then tried to offer Richard a dollar, and spoke of the blatant hunger in Richard’s eyes. This made Richard feel degraded and ashamed. Wright uses syntax to appropriately place the conversation before making his point in his personal conclusions. In the analogy, “A man will seek to express his relation to the stars…that loaf of bread is as important as the stars” (loaf of bread being the metonymy for food), Wright concludes “ it is the little things of life “ that shape a Negro’s destiny. An interesting detail is how Richard refuses the Yankee’s pity; he whispers it. From then on, Richard identified him as an enemy. Thus, through that short, succinct exchange of words, two identities were molded.

    Read More

  • My Bondage and my Freedom

    1925 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Jonathan Swift's Essay, A Modest Proposal

    660 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jonathan Swift in his essay, "A Modest Proposal" suggests a unique solution to the problem concerning poor children in Ireland. Swift uses several analytical techniques like statistics, induction, and testimony to persuade his readers. His idea is admirable because he suggests that instead of putting money into the problem, one can make money from the problem. However, his proposal is inhumane.

    Read More

  • Trickery in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

    1878 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lee, Lisa Yun. “The Politics of Language in Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of an American Slave.” Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, 2004. Literature Resource Center. 24 April, 2014. .

    Read More

  • The Use of Rhetorical Devices in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass written by Frederick Douglass

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Limitations Of Fredrick Douglass And Richard Wright

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    The edifying phenomenon that comes across the lives of Douglass and Wright is seemingly a climax imposing new beginnings and a tentative freedom. Consequently, allowing both men to gravely understand the terms and conditions they must face in order to comply with that preceding society. “My reading had created a cast sense of distance between me and the world in which I lived and tried to make a living, and that sense of distance was increasing each day.” (Wright 153) “The moral which

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Ethos Pathos Logos

    785 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a former slave, bereft of any free will, written words were all but unavailable to Frederick Douglass. Slaves were unable to tell their stories, to expose the dehumanization that their enslavement caused on both sides of the racial rift; so it was necessary for Douglass to fight tooth and nail to obtain the right to learn, and ultimately to narrate his own life story. Amongst the narration, multiple rhetorical strategies are integrated into the text in order to uncover the dehumanizing effect their mistreatment had on slaves during this time. His primary purpose is to educate those who are ignorant of the horrible conditions that slaves lived in and the cruelty that they suffer. He does this through the use of rhetorical devices such as anecdotes, irony and by further connecting to his audience with pathos and ethos. By using his own personal experiences as the subject of his argument, Douglass is able to make a strong and compelling case against slavery; at a time when it was socially unacceptable to do so.

    Read More

  • A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poverty

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    To start off the full title of Johnathan Swift’s writing is "A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burthen to their Parents, or the Country, and for making them Beneficial to the Publick." From just reading the title in the book “A Modest Proposal”, I was thinking it was a story about romance and how a gentleman proposed marriage to his female lover. His proposal, in effect, is to fatten up these undernourished children and feed them to Ireland's rich land-owners. He does this to illustrate how backwards and bad the state of Ireland is and the social classes. For these reasons, he looks at the politicians to blame for the poor conditions because of the apathy they presented while in the decision making process, to resolve the conditions. Jonathan Swift he says that the people, politicians, and English were all to be at fault for the terrible state and poverty of Ireland.

    Read More

  • The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: The Formation of Identity

    2136 Words  | 5 Pages

    The reader is first introduced to the idea of Douglass’s formation of identity outside the constraints of slavery before he or she even begins reading the narrative. By viewing the title page and reading the words “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, written by himself” the reader sees the advancement Douglass made from a dependent slave to an independent author (Stone 134). As a slave, he was forbidden a voice with which he might speak out against slavery. Furthermore, the traditional roles of slavery would have had him uneducated—unable to read and incapable of writing. However, by examining the full meaning of the title page, the reader is introduced to Douglass’s refusal to adhere to the slave role of uneducated and voiceless. Thus, even before reading the work, the reader knows that Douglass will show “how a slave was made a man” through “speaking out—the symbolic act of self-definition” (Stone 135).

    Read More

  • A Modest Proposal: Rhetorical Analysis

    692 Words  | 2 Pages

    A Modest Proposal, by Jonathan Swift, is a satirical pamphlet that was published to the public in 1729. Its purpose was to shock the citizens of Ireland with an appalling solution to their economic troubles at the time. Swift’s purpose for A Modest Proposal was to present a horrific solution for an ever growing problem in Ireland. He adopts an aloof but eerily serious tone to grab the attention of the lower and middle class.

    Read More

  • A Modest Proposal

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    The issue that is at hand in his persuasive essay is that Ireland is over populated and they need to think of a way to deal with this said problem. They need to deal with this problem over else the population will keep going up and they will run out of food for people even faster. The context of this issue is that they are living in a place where there are not enough food, water, and clothes for everyone so they have children starving and tons of people are begging for anything to get them through the day. Johnathon Swift is making the argument that we should slay and eat all children under the age of 1 because we have way too many of them anyways. He’s an educated writer and well known author and a father of children. There might be some biased because he doesn’t have a child under the age of one so maybe he doesn’t want to have to kill his own child. The target audience is the people of Ireland because they are all living in the struggle along with himself. The main point is the Ireland is over populated and people are poor, hungry and in poverty. The argument is structured in a way that he catches the reader’s attention then at the very end he says that everything he said he doesn’t actually want any of that stuff to happen and that there needs to b...

    Read More

  • Richard Wright Did Not Help The African American Community

    1334 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through his writings, Richard Wright was able to share with the world the hatred, fear, and violence that African American men face, including himself experienced on a day to day basis. Perhaps, many critics failed to look at the bigger picture. Richard Wright lived his life through his characters, many of the things he wish he could have done and/or said to his mother and father, his friends, and his white counterparts, becomes a reality through his writing.

    Read More

  • Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Ethos Essay

    616 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Key Arguments in "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass"

    1143 Words  | 3 Pages

    Analysis of “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”: Written by Aaron Wright and Nichole Smith

    Read More

  • Power of Persuasion in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    Douglass also gives accounts of the horrific treatment of slaves by the plantation owner. "He (Master) would at times seem to take great pleasure in whipping a slave. I have often been awakened at dawn by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood."(14) He mentions the tangible blood and shrieks to emphasize the pain and torture of a human being. This slave bleeds like any other person and so it is easier for a reader ...

    Read More

More about Black Boy1

Open Document