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Douglass Use Repetition In The Hypocrisy Of American Slavery

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It seems as if Americans must learn a hard lesson when one is able to find two separate works,decades apart, yet united with similar purpose. In the year of 1852 a former slave by the name of Frederick Douglas gave a speech on the Fourth of July titled “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery”. Years later in 1965, after a violent incident in Selma, Alabama, President Lyndon B. Johnson gave a speech titled “We Shall Overcome” to a full congress. Both speeches, convey the same concept of equality, and are infused with the same persuasive techniques to develop the argument that all men are created equal. Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer. Douglas utilizes repetition in order to underscore a point he feels are vital and important.”The manhood of a slave”( Douglas).He repeats this line in order to reinvigorate his point that a man is entitled to his freedom and by all definitions of man a slave is a man. He defines this point with several examples and leaves no way for avenue.Similarly , Johnson uses …show more content…

In this instance Douglas incorporated citation by quoting another famed abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison. Using the lines “ I will not not equivocate--I will not excuse.”(Douglas), Douglas establishes credibility for his reference to a respected fellow abolitionist.The utilization of this quote establishes a severity similar to that of Garrison. Likewise, Johnson cites a quote from the Bible “What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”(Johnson). . This, of course, would appeal to the vast Christian audience in congress. The quote also communicates a connection between god and the rights of African Americans.. Citation in these speeches adds a semblance of legitimacy to the individual claims being

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