Rhetorical Analysis of “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass” by Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass wrote many autobiographies. columns. and addresss. His greatest piece is likely the book Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass. In this book he talks about his life as a slave and he makes legion statements against bondage. Upon a closer reading. Douglass. by metaphors and personal anecdotes. entreaties to the three rhetorical entreaties Ethos. Pathos. and Logos. Later in the first chapter Douglass negotiations about his aunt Hester.

Hester disobeyed their proprietor and he started to penalize her. ”… He led her to a stool under a big hook in the joist. set in for the purpose… ” ( Douglass pg4 ) Made her get on top of the stool tied her to the hook and “…he commenced to put on the heavy cowhide and shortly the warm. ruddy blood came dripping to the floor…” ( Douglass pg 5 ) “I was so panicky and horrified at the sight. that I hid myself in a cupboard and dared non to venture out boulder clay long after the bloody dealing was over. ( Douglass pg 5 ) With this quotation mark he is subtly stating “If you want to cognize about bondage I can state you approximately slavery because I was at that place. I lived it. ” For the fact that he was at that place and witnessed this event gives him ethos. Around the center of the 2nd chapter Douglass negotiations about an superintendent named Mr. Severe. Mr. Severe was the superintendent of Colonel Lloyd’s. who was Douglass’ proprietor. plantation. “Mr. Severe was justly named: he was a barbarous adult male.

I have seen him flog a adult female. doing the blood to run half an hr at a clip ; and this. excessively. in the thick of her weeping kids. pleading for their mother’s release. ” ( Douglass pg 7 ) Again this same state of affairs where he is stating the audience that he knows what he is speaking approximately because he witnessed and lived it so hence he has adequate credibleness to speak about it. This quotation mark shows that he knows precisely what he is speaking about so he has the ethos to state the audience what a slave’s life was similar. In the center of chapter two Douglass negotiations about how the slaves were non given beds.

He said “…They found less trouble from the privation of beds. than from the privation of clip to sleep…” ( Douglass pg 6 ) “…Very many of their sleeping hours are consumed in fixing the field for the approaching twenty-four hours ; and when this is done. old and immature. male and female. married and individual. drop down side by side. on one common bed. -the cold. moist floor. – each covering himself of herself with their suffering blankets…” ( Douglass pg 6 ) He says this to arouse emotion into the audience the phrase “the cold. moist floor. ” and the parallel construction “old and immature. male and female. married and single” evokes emotion.

This is a strong entreaty to pathos in his statement. In the beginning of chapter eight Douglass negotiations about when he went to populate in Baltimore. He talks about His old master’s youngest boy deceasing and so three old ages subsequently his old maestro died. So his belongings was valued and he was sent for to be valued with the other belongings. “…Here once more my feelings rose up in abhorrence of bondage. I had now a new construct of my debauched condition……I left Baltimore with a immature bosom overborne with unhappiness. and a soul full of apprehensiveness. ( Douglass pg 27 ) He says this and these lines evoke so much emotion. With the phrase “a immature bosom overborne with sadness” and the usage of other emotional words and phrases get the audience traveling. So this is besides an illustration of a strong entreaty to pathos. Around the center of chapter six Douglass negotiations about traveling to populate with Mr. and Mrs. Auld. Mrs. Auld started to learn him the A. B. Cs. After he learned that he was larning to spell words of three or four letters. At that point Mr. Auld found out and told Mrs. Auld non to teach him farther.

He said Mr. Auld said “’… if you teach that nigger how to read. there would be no maintaining him. It would everlastingly disqualify him to be a slave. He would at one time become unwieldy and of no value to his maestro …It would merely do him discontented and unhappy. ’ These words sank deep into my heart… I now understood what had been to me a most confusing difficulty-to humor. the white man’s power to enslave the black adult male. ” ( Douglass pg 20 ) This is his epiphany or his fable of the cave minute when he realizes what is really traveling on.

He thought logically for a long clip and he eventually found what he was looking for. This quotation mark is an entreaty to logos. Early on in chapter nine Douglass negotiations about his Master Thomas Auld. He says he ever got adequate to eat everyplace else he went but non with Master Thomas. “I have said Master Thomas was a average adult male … Not to give a slave adequate to eat. is regarded as the most aggravated development of meanness even among slave owners. The regulation is. no affair how coarse the nutrient. merely allow at that place be plenty of it… Master Thomas gave us sufficiency of neither harsh nor all right nutrient. ( Douglass pg 31 )

This is a syllogism he is stating Mean slave proprietors don’t give their slaves plenty to eat. Master Thomas doesn’t give his slaves plenty to eat hence Master Thomas is a average adult male. A syllogism entreaties to logos so this quotation mark entreaties to logos. To reason. Frederick Douglass uses metaphors and personal anecdotes to appeal to the three rhetorical entreaties Ethos. Pathos. and Logos. His book Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass is filled with illustrations of these entreaties. Personal anecdotes give him Ethos. Parallel construction entreaties to Pathos. and logical thought entreaties to Logos.