Ethos In The Autobiography Of Frederick Douglass

The authors and texts were both written in the early 1800’s, and are about each author’s childhood experience. Both strived to be objective. Douglass made his writing with facts and no emotional descriptions, because readers doubted a former slave could be intelligent and write without bias. Twain wrote with honesty and moral superiority. Both authors use details and imagery to create ethos, because the details are evidence to the story’s credibility.

Douglass’ autobiography Narrative of The Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave was among the first Slave Narratives written by a former slave. Also, it was written differently in a new autobiographical form, glorifying the conflicts, the struggles and the success of an individual in place of recounting a story following a chronological order which is the classic form of an autobiography. Frederick Douglass consolidated different ideologies and philosophies in his work because he was very inspired by Henry Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson who were considered as leaders in philosophy. Douglass’ narrative was used to defend the human rights, criticizing religion but also as a political context.

Moving along to another author Frederick Douglass represent an American slave who argument the ways for freedom and the virtual ruler how the American should be in their life. In his work " Narrative of the Life" Douglass started to tell us about his life and to get the connection with others which means his life as a slave it does have any change from them. The effect of this narrative is give the reality with all positive and negative complex the life had in society. He said in chapter I "...ever have meet a slave who could tell of his birthday." to showed the group without rights and darkness in their life.

At the beginning of Chapter I, while describing his childhood, Douglass mentions the mystery of his age, recalling, “I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their age as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant” (40). This is one of the tactics slave owners used to strip slaves of their humanity early on in their life. Almost to make them seem like animals. As a child, Douglass knew that white children were aware of their own ages, and was confused as to why he was “deprived of the same privilege” (40).

Education is an important tool that empowers people through knowledge and allowing the people to become more conscious of the world. Frederick Douglass, an American slave who bettered himself through education. Getting his first lesson from Mrs. Auld, who taught Douglass basic literary skills, then relying on white children in order to learn how to write. Through his struggles, Master Auld forbade Mrs. Auld to continue to teach Douglass how to read, claiming “If you taught that n- (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave.” (Douglass 41.)

Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison were the most famous abolitionists who spoke out publicity against slavery, racial discrimination, and were strong supporters of women’s rights. Douglass himself escaped from slavery and went from courage to freedom. He published his autobiography “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,” that is considered works of the narrative slave tradition and life learning lessons that he encountered. The narrative illustrates instances of Douglass courage on his journey. Freedom was not something that was given to him.

Frederick Douglass develops self-determination through the discovery of education and its pathway from slavery to freedom. Frederick already understood the physical brutality of slavery, but becomes aware of the mental brutality and the psychological control of withholding literacy. [He would at once become unmanageable and no value to his master X. 409.] Hearing his master's words, Douglass found a purpose to become literate.

The Reconstruction Era was a period of ‘repair’ and progression of African-Americans, throughout the North and South. African American figureheads of the Reconstruction Era racial uplifts focused heavily on education and practical knowledge, while Hurston offered a different perspective. Although Zora Neale Hurston is now a ‘literary genius,’ her contemporaries criticized her, saying she was hindering the advancement of Blacks. Her literature described by Richard Wright had “no theme, no message, no thought.”(PBS 1). In her novel ‘Jonah’s Gourd Vine,’ Hurston leads us through the life of John Pearson, a mulatto man that went from living abusive stepfather to becoming a well respected preacher.

Barack used this quote with a logical reasoning, stating the facts on how the founding fathers of this nation did not have any say about the common slave or their self rights, but just to let the future take care of it problem. He then explains his personal experiences with racial injustice and how it dealt with it as a young man to incorporate his own character into the ongoing problem. He states “I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas”(Obama 461). “ I was raised with the help of a white grandfather. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue”(Obama 462).

Although it had been said 421 years ago this renowned proverb had cultivated itself as the apex of modern society. In addition to its modern influence, it had greatly impacted the decline of slavery. In the novel, “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass incorporates his acquisition of knowledge in order to implore others to conform to his cause. “These dear souls came not to Sabbath school because it was popular to do so, nor did I teach them because it was reputable to be thus engaged. Every moment they spent in that school, they were liable to be taken up and given thirty-nine lashes.

Fredrick Douglas and Harriet Jacobs both reveal captivating accounts of their personal experiences of slavery and their fight for freedom and equality. Both speak of the immortality of the physical and mental abuse when depicting the “brutal whippings”, mental deception, as well as the heart ache of never seeing your family members. They found favor with masters who would allow them to learn to read and write and eventually freedom in the north. However, what is revealed so often, and is still very prevalent today is male privilege. The difference between male and female provides explanation not only for many of the differences of the writing styles that are shared in Douglass’s and Jacobs’s autobiographies, but also for the accounts of

Fredrick didn’t know how to read and write first but, he did not give up. In “Learning to Read and Write,” Frederick Douglass strongly states that knowledge is a great form of power. From being a former slave for life, Douglass expresses the importance of knowledge by describing, how he was able to learn to read and write. He put a lot of effort and time on learning to write, but at the same time he shows us that he still have the thoughts that one day he would become a free man. I agree with this author because of, first he didn’t know how to read and write but he had put his effort.