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Rhetoric In Fredrick Douglass 'As With Rivers So With Nation'

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Frederick Douglass was a great writer, but he wasn’t always. He was an escaped slave who used that in his speeches as a topic to gain the attention of his audience. His audience was a seemingly sympathetic one and got to them through rhetorical questions. Douglass wanted to convey the message that there are many changes that need to be made. Douglass uses many rhetorical metaphors to appeal and connect to the audience emotionally. “As with rivers so with nations”, and the last sentence of paragraph 4b, it states that this river will get ruined if not turned around. Just like the nation it refers to. And so if the nation is not turned around it crumbles and it falls apart if it fails to recognize the problem. With this, Douglass is addressing the topic of slavery and whether to abolish it or not. And goes about telling the hardships he went through. …show more content…

“With them, justice, liberty and humanity were “final”; not slavery and oppression.” This relates to the hardships and the fact that the people don’t recognize how terrible it is. And that these meanings of these “free” words mean something else to him and other slaves. He shows that the changes are hard but once they are made everything will be peaceful. Rhetorical features and strategies are Douglass’ forte’ in engaging with the audience. He uses metaphors and antithesis within to strengthen that connection. Through this Frederick Douglass appeals to the minds of the sympathetic

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