Emily Nightingale

Madeline Brown

Ms. Mckiddy

APEL P.4

8 September 2017

Fredrick Douglass Passage Analysis

Fredrick Douglass was an American literary genius that composed his thoughts in many

elegant ways. His excellence has thus awarded him with countless accomplishments, but his

most praised would be his very own autobiography, ​Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass​.

In the contents, he speaks of his early experiences as a slave and the tragic events he

encountered. However, one specific passage of his book speaks entirely of his grandmother’s

poorly treated life. In the passage regarding Douglass’ grandmother, he uses the rhetorical

strategy of syntax to express that slaveholders at the time had no empathy towards the equality of

their slaves.

Douglass’s unique structure of composing his thoughts provides evidence of the

rhetorical strategy, syntax. Throughout the passage, Douglass portrays the death of his

grandmother by demonstrating numerous uses of syntax including interrupted sentences and

repetition. As stated by Douglass, “She stands-- she sits-- she staggers-- she falls-- she groans--

she dies…”. With this statement, he illustrates his work by compelling the reader with relatable

actions to develop the intent of getting people in her skin. Additionally, Douglass includes

dashes in between each action to supply an interrupted sentence in order to deepen the meaning

of each expression. He hopes for the true understanding of the events taken place in preparation
for her times end. Furthermore, Douglass partakes in various amounts of repetition throughout

the passage. The experiences of his grandmother are expressed by the reoccurrence of words the

outlined the events of her life. Douglass explains, “If my poor old grandmother now lives, she

lives to suffer in utter loneliness; she lives to remember and mourn over the loss of children, the

loss of grandchildren, and the loss of great-grandchildren.” This use of repetition indicates that

the last moments of his beloved grandmother were lived in outright pain as she recollected her

former losses. Douglass brings to life the journey and people this woman had devoted her whole

self to yet she is left to die alone, seen unvalued.