Narrative Of The Life Of Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Devices

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is a very powerful and important piece of work when it comes to understanding the dehumanization and harsh treatment of the slaves in Pre-Civil War United States. Frederick Douglass uses crucial detail in his narrative to make the reader understand just how badly the slaves were truly treated and how profoundly unequal slaves were from everyone else during this time. Douglass uses many rhetorical strategies throughout his narrative in order to really shape how the readers are going to interpret the narrative, and to allow the reader to develop an understanding of his major theme of dehumanization. He uses detailed descriptions of brutal beatings, repeatedly mentions the contrast between the white citizens and black

The usage of these rhetorical strategies in his narrative really helps to emphasize the dehumanization of slaves and indubitably forms Douglass’s opinion for slave owners, as well as slavery as a whole.

One of the biggest rhetorical strategies used by Douglass throughout his narrative is showing the comparison between common white people and the slaves. On page one he states, “The white children could tell their ages. I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege.” This sentence is used when Frederick Douglass is trying to recall his age in the beginning of his narrative, and shows how basic human rights, even as little as slaves knowing their own birthdays, was taken away in order to keep slaves ignorant. Not letting a slave know their own age was a device the slave owner would use in order to keep a slave feeling inadequate as a normal human being. Another strategy used by the