Rhetorical Choice Assignment Instructions
Assignment
For each chapter selection given on the actual assignment page, create a brief rhetorical analysis for the reading selection that contains a thesis statement focused on Douglass purpose in writing these particular chapters.
Key to your writing will be to address all three appeals, but you must do so without using their Greek names of ethos, pathos, and logos. Instead, utilize other phrasing such as Douglass establishes his authority on the subject of… for ethos, Douglass elicits a visceral response from his readers by stating… for pathos, or Using classification and description, Douglass helps his readers understand that for logos.
You should include at least one piece of textual evidence for each of the three appeals and adequate commentary identifying Douglass tools of language, their effect on the audience, and why thats important to Douglass goal in writing this section, chapter, or book overall.
Example from page 1 of the text:
Over the course of the first four chapters of Frederick Douglass 1845 narrative text about his life as an enslaved person, Douglass masterfully employs the three rhetorical appeals in introducing his audience to his argument for the abolition of slavery. Although he is only telling the truthful tale of his early life, it is a story so vivid and moving that embellishment is not required for Douglass to establish credibility, evoke emotion in his audience, and help them understand the unmitigated horrors of slavery. In the very first paragraph, Douglass conjures a measure of sympathy in his audience for a young Frederick, who, deprived of the knowledge of his own date of birth or father, is left to fend for himself in the brutal game of slavery (Douglass 1). Describing this deprivation draws the audience closer to a youthful Douglass and at the same time introduce them to the ways in which the practice of slavery requires ignorance to survive. This feeling of sympathy not only creates a connection between writer and audience, but also bolsters the audiences emotional connection with the subject of slavery. When Douglass states slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, (Douglass 1) readers cant help but abhor a practice that dehumanizes people to the status of livestock, meant only for labor. Though this is only page one, the utter disregard for basic human rights, let alone the liberty and justice written into the founding documents of the nation less than a century earlier, is palpable. Douglass comparisons extend from horses to the white children with whom he encounters on the plantation, stating that the white children could tell their ages, but that for those enslaved, it illustrates evidence of a restless spirit (Douglass 1). By contrasting the different way the two races of people are treated even as children, Douglass clearly highlights the unfairness and injustice of slavery. Of course, not everything in life is fair, but the level of discrimination the author faces as a child – for the sole reason of his race and status as an enslaved person – powerfully reveals the troubling truth about the most unjust institution. It doesnt take Douglass long to establish a connection, instill feelings of contempt for slavery, and help the audience understand the cruel inequality resulting from it.
*Notice that I spoke about the rhetorical appeals, gave examples, and described their effects, all without using the terms ethos, pathos, and logos.
Guidance:
Ethos/credibility: (consider Douglass qualifying his suffering, appealing to religion/morality, explaining the lengths to which he goes to gain literacy/freedom, words of others, etc.)
Pathos/emotional: (think imagery, framing of cruelty, shocking scenarios, etc.)
Logos/reason: (consider comparisons/analogies, cause-effect examples, if-then reasoning/logic, identifying the fallacies of slaveholders, etc.)
After you have read Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave and read through the module, which includes detailed instructions for this assignment, upload a MLA formatted document that considers how Douglass utilizes each of the three rhetorical appeals – personal, emotional, and logical. For this assignment, develop a rhetorical analysis paragraph for Chapters 1-4 and Chapters 5-9. You should have a total of two paragraphs.
