He does this by writing about subjects typical of the human experience- knowledge of one's birthday, one's parents, and family life-thus demonstrating his own humanity.ĭouglass is at pains to present himself as a “reliable truth teller of his own experience.” By emphasizing that despite his inquires he has “no accurate knowledge” of his heritage because of his master’s desire to keep him ignorant-and of which he keenly feels this lack-Douglass encourages the reader to see him as a rational human being rather than as a piece of property or chattel ( ethos).Īlthough Douglass scorned pity, his pages are evocative of sympathy, as he meant them to be. logos: appeal to reason/truth of the argumentĭouglas uses his own experience to convince his readers that slaves are equal in their humanity to white people.pathos: appeal to emotion of the audience.ethos: appeal to the speaker’s good character and moral values.There are three elements that go into making a convincing appeal: After escaping from slavery, Frederick Douglass published his own Narrative (1845) to argue against slavery and for emancipation.Ī great master of rhetoric, Douglass used traditional persuasive appeals to sway the audience into adopting his point of view. These works were an important part of the abolitionist movement’s strategy of appealing to the conscience of Northerners. Slave narratives were first-hand accounts that exposed the evils of the system in the pre-Civil War period. Note: Students are expected to have some knowledge of slavery in U.S. In this lesson, students analyze Douglass's first-hand account to see how he successfully contrasts myths with the reality of life under slavery. He uses incidents of cruelty that he witnessed along with songs of the slaves themselves-spirituals-to emphasize this distinction. In his Narrative-particularly chapters 1 and 2- Douglass quickly distinguishes the myth from the reality. One myth that Southern slave owners and proponents perpetuated was that of the slave happily singing from dawn to dusk as he or she worked in the fields, prepared meals in the kitchen, or maintained the upkeep of the plantation.

Pitilessly, he offers the reader a first-hand account of the pain, humiliation, and brutality of the South's 'peculiar institution.” In it, Douglass criticizes directly-often with withering irony-those who defend slavery and those who prefer a romanticized version of it. In 1845 the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, and Written by Himself was published.

Douglass narrative