Question

Read the following excerpts from Frederick Douglass' text "What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?" and answer the question that follows.

… Fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions! whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are, to-day, rendered more intolerable by the jubilee shouts that reach them. If I do forget, if I do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, "may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth!" To forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before God and the world. My subject, then, fellow-citizens, is American slavery. I shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. Standing there identified with the American bondman, making his wrongs mine, I do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this 4th of July! Whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. America vis false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. Standing with God and the crushed and bleeding slave on this occasion, I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery the great sin and shame of America! "I will not equivocate; I will not excuse"; I will use the severest language I can command; and yet not one word shall escape me that any man, whose judgment is not blinded by prejudice, or who is not at heart a slaveholder, shall not confess to be right and just …
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… At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. O! had I the ability, and could reach the nation's ear, I would, to-day, pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.

What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages …

In a well-written paragraph of 7–10 sentences, identify and evaluate Douglass' use of two rhetorical devices and one

Answer 1

In this excerpt from Frederick Douglass' text "What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?", Douglass skillfully employs rhetorical devices to convey his powerful message and evoke a strong emotional response from his audience.

One rhetorical device Douglass employs is vivid imagery. He paints a stark picture of the contrast between the jubilant celebrations of the Fourth of July and the plight of the enslaved population. By describing the slaves' chains as "heavy and grievous" and emphasizing that their suffering is intensified by the festive shouts of the day, Douglass creates a vivid image that elicits a sense of sorrow and injustice. This imagery highlights the stark reality faced by slaves and exposes the blatant hypocrisy of celebrating freedom while denying it to a significant portion of the population.

Douglass uses repetition effectively. He repeats the phrase "in the name of" several times throughout the passage to emphasize his denunciation of slavery and establish his moral authority. By invoking humanity, liberty, the Constitution, and the Bible, Douglass asserts that slavery is an affront to all these principles. The repetition of these powerful terms strengthens his argument and evokes moral outrage in the reader or listener.

Furthermore, Douglass incorporates irony into his rhetoric. He employs scorching irony to underscore the absurdity and hypocrisy of celebrating independence and liberty while simultaneously denying these fundamental rights to enslaved individuals. By expressing his desire to pour out a "fiery stream of biting ridicule" and "blasting reproach," Douglass uses irony to condemn the nation's failure to live up to its professed values. This ironic tone exposes the contradiction between freedom and equality ideals and the reality of slavery. It challenges the audience to critically examine their complicity in perpetuating this injustice.

In conclusion, Frederick Douglass employs vivid imagery, repetition, and irony to effectively convey his message and denounce slavery. Through these rhetorical devices, he evokes strong emotions and highlights the stark contrast between the Fourth of July celebrations and the suffering of the enslaved. He also exposes the hypocrisy of a nation that celebrates freedom while denying it to a significant portion of its population. Douglass' skillful use of these devices contributes to his speech's rhetorical power, making it a compelling call to action against slavery.