Frederick Douglass Essay

Sandra Orozco
Ms. Petersen
AP English 3/period 6
2 October 2012 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass During the proceeding of the paragraph on pages 136-137 of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, we can examine the incorpration of of parallel syntactic structure, paradoxes, figurative language, and caesuras that Douglass uses to convey to his audience the fear and paraphora of being a runaway slave. He illustrates with depth the terrible events that he would not want anyone to experience with the use of these four elements in this passage. Within these lines, we can pinpoint the use of parallell syntactic structure with the reacurrence of "Let him" certifying that no one understands where Douglass is coming from unless that person experiences for their own the beatings of slavery. "Let him be a fugitive slave in a strange land-a land given up to be the hunting ground for slaveholders-[.....] let him place himself in my situation [.....] let him feel that he is pursued by merciless men-hunters, and in total darkness[.....]fugitive slave"(Douglass 136-137). Douglass uses this repetition as to make his statements true with heartfelt examples to give us an insight as to what he's been through because of slavery. He expresses the uneasiness in him and the terror at the moment while suffering hunger, lack of shelter, and completely being on his own with no family or friends to support him. In this specific part of the narrative we also see the integration of Paradoxes and figurative language. Douglass uses a sense of paradox statements to give the audience a sort of better apprehend as to how he was surrounded my a variety of comforts, yet not be able to adore any of it. "..-in the midst of plenty, yet suffering the terrible gnawings of hunger,-in the midsts of houses, yet having no home,-among fellow men, yet feeling as if in the midsts of wild beasts[.....]subsist"(Douglass 137). This specific quote describes douglass's outcast sentiments with the fact that he had no support at all and that maybe he was meant to be a slave for the rest of his life. Also, there is the use of figurative language in this piece. Frederick's use of this component is to allude the way he feels about the slaveholders and compare them to awful things and at the same time also comparing himself as to what he felt he was being treated like."..-whose inhabitants are legalized kidnappers-where he is every moment subjected to the terrible liability of being seized upon his fellowmen, as the hideous crocodile seizes upon his prey![.....]-among fellow- men, yet feeling as if in the midst of wild beasts, whose greediness to swallow up the trembling and half-famished fugitive is only equalled by that with which the monsters of the

Show More

Frederick: Douglass Frederick Douglass Essay

Frederick Douglass and me Essay