A Fugitive Slave’s Writing

The Examination of the Rhetorical and Insightful Literature of Frederick Douglass

DOI

10.2991/978-2-494069-97-8_44How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Frederick Douglass; Logos; Pathos; Ethos; Literary Techniques; Narrative; Slavery

Abstract

Frederick Douglass is a renowned American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, and writer. This research paper aims to Frederick Douglass’s writing in order to analyze his usage of the rhetorical triangle and literary devices incorporated in his works to support his reputation as a renowned author. Despite the setback aligned with slavery for twenty years in the early stage of his life, Douglass’s unique but intellectual experience smooths the pathway for his later development, becoming a devoted adherence to the social reform within the United States. By illustrating multiple excerpts from Douglass’s works, the paper testifies to his compelling voice in writing. The writing emphasizes his unsurpassable place in American literature and American history, as Douglass frequently exhibits rhetorical skills in support of his persuasive writing, especially in his slave narrative. Frequently connecting with readers through logos, pathos, and ethos and advancing linguistic progression propel the need to combat injustice, which also deserves the appreciation of contemporary readers. In addition, the paper reinforces his legendary attainment from the revelation of his exceptional literary manipulation, reflecting his literary talents. In terms of the contribution of this paper, it sheds light on the most accurate portrayal of slavery that used to be a prevalent phenomenon for nearly a century and raises awareness among people in the current society of this dark and ineradicable history.

Copyright

© 2023 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Jinliang Li
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/02/13
TI  - A Fugitive Slave’s Writing
BT  - Proceedings of the 2022 4th International Conference on Literature, Art and Human Development (ICLAHD 2022)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 347
EP  - 356
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-494069-97-8_44
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-494069-97-8_44
ID  - Li2023
ER  -