ipl-logo

Words And Words By Frederick Douglas: The Power Of Words

542 Words3 Pages

Fortunately, words span the known world. After all, without words, expressing ourselves would become much harder. Not surprisingly, words are powerful, and when words are put together, they can have exquisite meanings. After reading, “Learning to Read and Write”, by Frederick Douglas, I was astounded by his use of words (not to mention how he learned to use them). The grouping of the words was wonderful and powerful. However, the three word groupings that I loved best of all were, “This bread I used to bestow upon the hungry little urchins, who, in return, would give me that more valuable bread of knowledge”, “I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing”, and, “Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities”. …show more content…

Douglass showed. The anguish revealed by Mr. Douglass is stunning. With reading comes knowledge, and with knowledge comes the truth, and the truth can be hard to bear. Knowing the truth about something reveals the good and the bad about things, and sometimes the bad outweighs the good (as with slavery). This leads up to another quote I noticed on the same subject, " Any thing, no matter what, to get rid of thinking!" This quote shows how passionate Mr. Douglass was about the anguish he now felt because of his knowledge. Finally, the last quote shows how much power can affect people. With the added power Mr. Douglass's Mistress has over her slaves, she became corrupt and evil, but before she was a slaveholder, she was a kind and tender-hearted woman. Unfortunately, this lesson is true on all fields. The more power a person has, the harder it is for that person to stay true to himself/herself and his/her friends. Having power over someone affects the person in control as much as the powerless person, as Mr. Douglass showed when he said that "Slavery proved as injurious to her as it did to

Show More
Related

  • Rhetoric In Fredrick Douglass 'As With Rivers So With Nation'

    257 Words  | 2 Pages

    “With them, justice, liberty and humanity were “final”; not slavery and oppression.” This relates to the hardships and the fact that the people don’t recognize how terrible it is. And that these meanings of these “free” words mean something else to him and other slaves. He shows that the changes are hard but once they are made everything will be peaceful. Rhetorical features and strategies are Douglass’ forte’ in engaging with the audience.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Learning To Read And Write By Frederick Douglass

    743 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many of us take education for granted and don’t learn to our fullest potential, but Fredrick Douglass soaked in every piece of information up because he knew it was his way out. “Learning to Read and Write” is a famous article based on what Fredrick Douglass went through to earn a valuable education while being enslaved. Author Fredrick Douglass, wrote “Learning to Read and Write”, published in 1845. Throughout the article, he takes us through different events he goes through while being enslaved. Douglass begins building his credibility with personal facts and successfully demonstrating logic and pathos appeal.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Paradox Analysis

    161 Words  | 1 Pages

    Douglass uses paradox to demonstrate that slavery degragrates the slaverholder. When Douglass under Mr. Sever’s care he described that: “He was less cruel, less profane… He whipped, but seemed to take no pleasure in it. ”(Douglass 24). Most slaveholders are characterized to be cruel and inhuman because of the whipping and the way they treated the slaves.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass: Overcoming Obstacles

    392 Words  | 2 Pages

    The legendary abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass was one of the most important social reformers of the nineteenth century. Being born into slavery on a Maryland Eastern Shore plantation to his mother, Harriet Bailey, and a white man, most likely Douglass’s first master was the starting point of his rise against the enslavement of African-Americans. Nearly 200 years after Douglass’s birth and 122 years after his death, The social activist’s name and accomplishments continue to inspire the progression of African-American youth in modern society. Through his ability to overcome obstacles, his strive for a better life through education, and his success despite humble beginnings, Frederick Douglass’s aspirations stretched his influence through

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Devices In Frederick Douglass

    631 Words  | 3 Pages

    Frederick Douglass Rhetorical Analysis Essay The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, written by Frederick Douglass himself, is a brutally honest portrayal of slavery’s dehumanizing capabilities. By clearly connecting with his audience’s emotions, Douglass uses numerous rhetorical devices, including anecdotes and irony, to argue the depravity of slavery. Douglass clearly uses anecdotes to support his argument against the immorality of slavery. He illustrates different aspects of slavery’s destructive nature by using accounts of not only his own life but others’ alsoas well.

    Read More

  • Turning Point In Frederick Douglass

    633 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Frederick Douglass’s book, he writes accounts of his time in slavery and beyond. Throughout the book, Douglass writes about not only the physical hardships slaves endured, but the mental and emotional hardships as well. In Chapter X, Douglass describes a battle he had with a temporary slave owner named Mr. Covey. After the fight concludes, Douglass writes, “This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Use And Abuse Of Power Essay

    498 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows the imbalance of power between slaves and their masters. In his book, Douglass proves that slavery is a destructive force not only to the slaves, but also for the slaveholders. “Poison of the irresponsible power” that masters have upon their slaves that are dehumanizing and shameless, have changed the masters themselves and their morality(Douglass 39). This amount of power and control in contact with one man breaks the kindest heart and the purest thoughts turning the person evil and corrupt. Douglass uses flashbacks that illustrate the emotions that declare the negative effects of slavery.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass's Arguments Against Slavery

    1080 Words  | 5 Pages

    In “The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass narrates in detail the oppressions he went through as a slave before winning his freedom. In the narrative, Douglass gives a picture about the humiliation, brutality, and pain that slaves go through. We can evidently see that Douglass does not want to describe only his life, but he uses his personal experiences and life story as a tool to rise against slavery. He uses his personal life story to argue against common myths that were used to justify the act of slavery. Douglass invalidated common justification for slavery like religion, economic argument and color with his life story through his experiences torture, separation, and illiteracy, and he urged for the end of slavery.

    Read More

  • Sherman Alexie And Frederick Douglass Essay

    689 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the essays, “The Joy of Reading and Writing; Superman and Me” and Frederick Douglass’s “Chapter 7: Learning to Read and Write”, Sherman Alexie and Frederick Douglass write about their hardships and challenges they faced while learning how to read and write due to their social economic status. Despite the fact that Alexie and Douglass are incredibly different people, they both use education for freedom and a sense of self-worth. Alexie and Douglass both struggled to receive education and struggled mentally and physically because of their social economic status. Although, Alexie and Douglass both experienced these hardships, they saw the world through a totally different perspective. Alexie saw the world in a more positive manner than Douglass

    Read More

  • Theme Of Abuse In Frederick Douglass

    1838 Words  | 8 Pages

    This shows that the way a Master behaves around a slave can be very influential, and Douglass explains that he was compelled to give all his hard-earned money to Master Hugh because the influence the Master had on him was to give him everything he worked hard for. Next, on page 10 of his Narrative, Douglass proclaims, “They never knew when they were safe from punishment. They were frequently whipped when least deserving, and escaped whipping when most deserving it. Every thing depended upon the looks of the horses,

    Read More

  • My Bondage And My Freedom Frederick Douglass Language Analysis

    1344 Words  | 6 Pages

    “One who is a slaveholder at heart never recognizes a human being in a slave” (Angelina Grimke). This quote was created to show the effect that slavery had on not only the slave, but the slaveholder. The slaveholder would dehumanize the slave to the point where the human was no longer recognizable; instead, the slave was property. Throughout this autobiography, Frederick Douglass uses language to portray the similarities and differences between the two sides. He allows the reader to spend a day in the life of a slave to see the effects from it.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Importance Of Education

    836 Words  | 4 Pages

    Human slavery requires ignorance, just as an individual’s freedom, from oppression, requires knowledge attained by education. To maintain order and control over slaves, slavery demands ignorant slaves; thus, keeping slaves ignorant prevents slaves from recognizing the empowering value of education and education’s ability to liberate slaves from the effects of ignorance. Frederick Douglass’s pursuit of education helped him discover the dark, hidden truths of slavery in his article, “How I Learned to Read and Write.” Thus, the pursuit of education inspires a desire for freedom. The desire to learn generates determination and motivation.

    Read More

  • Frederick Douglass Negative Effects On Slaves

    753 Words  | 4 Pages

    Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the  kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.

    Read More

  • Essay Comparing Frederick Douglass And Harriet Jacobs

    486 Words  | 2 Pages

    Douglass also emphasizes how owning slaves does not only hurt the slave but the slave owner. He says that owning

    Read More

  • Dehumanization Of Slavery

    1638 Words  | 7 Pages

    Slavery can easily be determined as one of the most blatant acts of dehumanization. In the narrative titled “Narrative Of The Life of Frederick Douglass”, Douglass is easily able to portray this by quoting, “I have found that, to make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right; and he can be brought to that only when he ceases to be a man”, Chapter 10 page 45. The quote overall does illustrate to the reader the narrator’s reflection to slavery as a whole as he states they were deprived of not only their basic

    Read More

More about Words And Words By Frederick Douglas: The Power Of Words

Open Document