Rhetorical Analysis Of What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July

Baillie Weil
Dreams and Nightmares - Sanders
Analysis Essay - Douglass
February 16th, 2023
Your Fathers not Mine: An Examination of Frederick Douglass’ 1852 Address
In Fredrick Douglass’ 1852 speech “What to The Slave is The Fourth of July,” Douglass uses the history of Colonial America and the feeling of oppression to impart the necessity of abolition in America to his audience. Specifically, Douglass first emphasizes the distance from Colonial American History through varied pronouns; second, his pronoun usage helps establish the repetitive grammatical structures that create pleasing sonorous patterns; third, and finally, the combination of these aspects reinforces his ultimate message of abolition in the American system. Ultimately, Douglass’

He states, “Oppression makes a wise man mad” and “With brave men there is always a remedy for oppression” (Douglas 10). These quotes further emphasize that oppression inspires bravery and action in response, but their structure gives the argument a sense of balance and symmetry. To contrast the negativity of his message, Douglass uses repetition and identical grammatical structures in succeeding clauses or sentences to produce a balanced and lyrical effect. The repeated phrase "To him, your [noun or verb phrase] is [adjective or noun]" in the 45th paragraph emphasizes the speaker's perception of the celebration and its hollowness and hypocrisy (Douglass 45). For instance, "To him, your celebration is a sham," and "To him, your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless" (Douglass 45). In using similar structures in his sentences, Douglass highlights the importance of the humanity of the American slave and his distance from the celebrations by repeating it in a structured and consistent