ipl-logo

Olaudah Equiano Rhetorical Devices

588 Words3 Pages

Olaudah Equiano was one of the most famous black men in the history of slavery who was lucky enough to purchase his freedom by himself. Equiano was highly popular for his autobiography named The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African. This is an interesting autobiographywhich was published in 1789 and it emphasized various aspects of slavery throughout the entire book. In The Interesting Narrative, Olaudah Equiano uses poetic diction and tone ( sadistic) to illustrate his perspective as a slave by portraying the cruality and brutality of slavery.

Equiano was very disappointed with his master’s betrayal. Even after taking all of his wages his master Pascal betrayed him and sold him to someone else.
He had expected to get freedom, but instead he was forced in further slavery. At that point, he was totally clueless about his life and felt absolutely broken and devastated by the situation. He could not believe that he did not get his freedom after urging for it for so long. He expressed his grief as well as cursed his fate. Equiano used a famous poem
The Dying Negro to give insight of his feelings for his readers. …show more content…

In addition, by reading this poem the readers can imagine the pain and suffocation Equiano was going through as a slave. Therefore, the author equiano purposely choose to add this poem because he felt connected with the former slave who wrote that poem. He also had similar thought to give up his life like the author in the poet however he had no other option instead to deal with this. Furthermore, he started cursing his fate and crying bitterly. The following quote will give the audience another close insight of his feelings when his trust and his dreams were

Show More
Related

  • A Comparison Of Olaudah Equiano And The Journal Of Christopher Columbus

    726 Words  | 3 Pages

    While Equiano's narrative shows the terrible conditions that he and his fellow Africans had to endure on the ship, Columbus’s journal has a very different cover. As opposed to Equiano's picture, Columbus’s journal shows he and his crew landing on an island in the Caribbean claiming land for spain triumphantly. This obviously shows two very different objectives in the stories. Emotion can be effected with the words we use as well, in Equiano's narrative there is an

    Read More

  • Traumatic Experiences In Olaudah Equiano's Life As A Slave

    1364 Words  | 6 Pages

    Equiano faced much hardship throughout his many years as a slave, although he was not always unhappy with his position he discovered many reasons as to why he was opposed to

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano Rhetorical Analysis

    683 Words  | 3 Pages

    For Equiano to be able to make the readers see the reversal of perceptions about white people, Equiano needs to separate himself and produce this sense of exceptionalism through first person pronouns. Once he establishes himself

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano's Interesting Narrative

    621 Words  | 3 Pages

    This chapter helps to separate the “savage” from “man”, which is the whole point in Equaino’s fight against slavery; his case that an African man is just as human as a white one. Therefore, the first chapter of Olaudah Equiano’s Interesting Narrative is a good setup for the story and overall message for the interests of humanity. Work cited Equiano, Olaudah. "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, Written by Himself" The Norton Anthology of American Literature.. Gen. ed. Nina Baym.

    Read More

  • Slavery In Olaudah Equiano's Narratives

    169 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Olaudah Equiano’s narrative, he demonstrates an oppressive tone in order to create sympathy for the slaves. For example, when the slaves pack onto the ships, the author describes, “[that] the stench…was so intolerably loathsome…it was dangerous to remain there” (Equiano 45). The diction Equiano uses such as, “stench” and “intolerably loathsome” leads to an increased amount of sympathy for the slaves suffering in the horrendous conditions. Equiano illuminates the dehumanization of the black slaves by describing the atrocities of where they survive. Furthermore, after days without food, instead of providing the slaves with much needed food, the whites simply, “tossed the remaining fish in the sea...although [the slaves] begged and pleaded

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano's Role In The Interesting Narrative

    110 Words  | 1 Pages

    For several months he lived on the Mosquito Coast managing a plantation that relied on slave labor. Equiano did not become an abolitionist until shortly before he wrote his autobiography, a searing indictment of the slave trade and chattel slavery. It played a role in the abolition of the British slave trade (1807) and was the model for future slave narratives. In 1999 historian Vincent Carretta revealed findings that suggest Olaudah Equiano was not born free in Africa as he claimed but enslaved in South Carolina. Even if its passages on Africa and Middle Passage are historical fiction, The Interesting Narrative remains a classic and its author a remarkable man.

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano Narrative Analysis

    724 Words  | 3 Pages

    This of course made him want to be baptized. Soon after creating a good relationship with, and began to believe in God he believed that Pascal would grant him his freedom. "... he had no right to detain me, he always treated me with the greatest kindness" (pp.90). Equiano had faith in God to grant him this wish. After some time of trying to purchase his freedom he finally became a freeman.

    Read More

  • The Life And Work Of Olaudah Equiano

    1044 Words  | 5 Pages

    At the young and tender age of 11, he was kidnapped by local slave traders and was then sold into slavery. In his biography, he talks about being brought from Africa aboard a ship, transported across the middle passage, and being further sold to slave owners. In the narrative, Equiano describes the horrendous conditions about the slave ship endured by both women and children and even white men. He continues about the physical abuse endured by Africans in slavery and the many atrocities he witnessed as a slave. As Equiano’s work continues to be read and studied by many today, it is often debated whether the details written in his biography are true to his own experience as a slave, greatly overlooking the actual important meaning of his

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano Ethos Pathos Logos

    679 Words  | 3 Pages

    For example, when he told of his arrival in Virginia when he was the last of his group left at a plantation with no one to talk to and no way to understand those around him. To the British readers, who thrived in their own daily social interactions, the thought of such a lonely situation created feelings of pity and understanding. Equiano thought that he was “worse off than any of the rest” of his companions and “was constantly grieving and pining,” because of his loneliness. The British readers related to his emotional distress and allowed themselves to see him as a person. Therefore, they were more open to his ideas on slavery as a whole, because they could relate to Equiano's

    Read More

  • Captivity Narratives

    1133 Words  | 5 Pages

    Both stories begin with shocking horrors, although much of Equiano’s narrative was based on these horrific scenes. Equiano’s survival of his involuntary journey to America, being enslaved as a child, and witnessing torture in Virginia, should be of aid towards the disapproval of the brutality of slavery. After buying his own freedom, Equiano became a front-runner in the abolitionist movement representing those who stood against slavery. Now in the 21st century we still fight for the freedom and self-respect we find in Equiano’s narrative. Rowlandson’s and Equiano’s narratives each represent a different characteristic of what it means to be part of the American nation.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Cabeza De Vaca And Olaudah Equiano

    811 Words  | 4 Pages

    After being forced to travel for several days, Equiano and his sister were separated. For the next six or seven months, Equiano was sold several times to African masters in different countries. He was eventually taken to the west coast of Africa and carried aboard a slave ship bound for the West Indies” (Equiano 84). This text proves that Equiano in fact was forced to take thus journey as a slave and was seperated from all of his family. Both of these men took a similar journey to the new world, but they see it very

    Read More

  • Equiano In Black Robe

    700 Words  | 3 Pages

    The appearance of the Atlantic world, especially to the eyes of Equiano, was one that could be described as interesting. We are introduced to a young colored man who has been forced into a new country due to the acts of slavery and is in fear of his life, while in the movie Black Robe, we are introduced to how a Jesuit priest comes to a new land in order to convert the natives of that country. In this essay, readers will be introduced to how a colored person sees a world differently unlike one who comes from such a country such as Europe. On page 91, Equiano starts off by explaining his conditions in his new master 's quarters and how he is shown the graphic details of being a slave, by seeing a woman, who is his own skin color, muzzled

    Read More

  • Captivity And Enslavement, By Olaudah Equiano

    1405 Words  | 6 Pages

    17.1 Captivity and Enslavement, Olaudah Equiano, the interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano written by himself 1. What are Equiano’s impressions of the white men on the ship and their treatment of the slaves? How does this treatment reflect the slave traders’ primary concerns? Equiano’s first impression of these white men is a feeling of uncertainty and sorrow for the future. As his story goes on Equiano is afraid of these white men, but also he is wishing to end it all because of the conditions and treatment of the slaves.

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano Hardships

    835 Words  | 4 Pages

    Equiano demonstrates his narrative by expressing with readers a look into his life from a child being kidnapped and becoming a slave and working towards a free man again. Just a young child being ripped away from everything his home, everything he owned, and even being stripped from the little human rights he has. An

    Read More

  • Reflection On Olaudah Equianoin

    298 Words  | 2 Pages

    (1) In this reading I learned about Olaudah EquianoIn. Olaudah Equianoln is known for a book he published which was about his life as a slave. His book was consider to have had such an impact on american readers and was said that no other black man before Douglass had created such a moving book. In his book he speaks of things from his kidnapping to the violence and abuse he endured as a slave. In conclusion, Olaudah was a former slave who wrote a book about his life which was very sad, motivational and makes me tear up thinking about the physical and emotional pain he endeared.

    Read More

More about Olaudah Equiano Rhetorical Devices

Open Document