Response to Douglass

When I finished reading this passage the first thing that came to my mind was how smart Douglass is. I know what you mean! His diction in this piece, the strong language like: "I have often been utterly astonished'" and "It is impossible to conceive of a greater mistake," makes his readers believe that he knows what he is talking about. Writers seldom use such strong and definite diction unless they really know what they are talking about and are positive they are right. The strong writing in this passage also create ethos.
The first thing I noticed about this passage is that Douglass right away uses antithesis. You got it. You identify a central persuasive element--nice stuff. He starts out this passage with a long descriptive sentence, then his second sentence is short and to the point saying that the beliefs people had, which were described in his firts sentence, were wrong. This opposition of long sentence then straight to short sentence really makes the short sentence catch your eye, and your mind. Yes. This is the moment when he refutes a popular misconception, and you do a nice job noting how his writing reflects his purpose. This is important because the whole point of this passage is to say that white men don't know black men, and that white men and black men are one in the same. Well, I'm not quite seeing this declaration of racial equality. Can you specify how you get that from this sentence? This is stated very early in his antithesis which is also his second sentence. The words that I notice first are "utterly astonished". I don't hear these words used together often so when he put them together I got a feeling of how weird it was for him to hear that white men think slaves sing because they are happy without Douglass having to use weak adjectives like very. This builds up his ethos for me because it makes me feel like he not only knows what he is talking about, but also knows how to say it powerfully. Some sentences that stuck out to me were "The songs of the slaves represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears," and "The singing of a man cast upon a desolate island might be as appropriately considered as evidence of contentment and happiness, as the singing of a slave; the songs of the one and of the other are prompted by the same emotion". These sentences stuck out to me because of the combination of their content and structure. Both of these sentences have pathos in them, but what really makes the pathos so strong is the way the sentences use comparisons. Comparing slave songs to an aching heart crying really strikes a heart string with me. It makes me want to reach out and try to comfort the slave, even though I have never known one. The only reason I want to reach out and comfort is because I can relate to the slave now. Just saying the slave sing because they are sad wouldn't help convince anyone that slavery should be gone. What makes the sentence so powerful is that the comparison given makes you able to relate to the slaves. Everyone has cried, so everyone can understand this comparison. Notice this also fits with the Age of Reason belief in sensitive-but-strong men. He builds his ethos as a man (and as a human being!) by displaying his sensitivity. Douglass's ability to write sophisticated, yet have everyone able to relate to a slave is genius. He is able to get you to feel emotions that slaves, on a much more grandious scale, would feel. By knowing this we see that slaves must be humans just like us. Because we are able to feel how they feel, slaves must be at least similar to us. This conclusion is what Douglass was hoping for. In this passage he wanted to get us to realize that slaves are human and slavery is wrong, to the point of inhuman if you are openminded. Since I have only read through chapter nine it is hard to say, but I think that this passage could be a microcosm to the book. Frederik Douglass was an escaped slave who was also an abolitionist. So far I have found this work to not only be a narrative, but also a persuasive book about why slavery is wrong. This passage supports that claim by saying that slaves are humans like you and me and they should have the same rights we have. He doesn't directly say this, but once you have read the passage and taken in the afore mentioned sentences you realize that slavery being wrong is the theme of this passage. In this passage is also saw an Age of Reason theme. Douglass says "I have often sung to drown my sorrow...". This supports the Age of Reason thought that men should be manly and sensitive. You're right with me, sister! Great stuff. Saying that he could cry made Doulass an Age of Reason man which would create ethos with the white men and women to whom this writing was designed for.
I want you to pause for a moment and realize how well you analyzed one little passage. I want to get you going with an analytical essay right now--you're in high gear. Well done.