Federick Douglas

“Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” is an 1845 autobiography that is narrates the life of Douglass from a young boy’s growth to a gentleman. Throughout this excerpt, Douglass describes his “bitterest dregs of slavery” utilizing his radiant writing style; the key elements that brought this piece forward include his assorted syntax, his descriptive figurative language and his vivid selection of details.

The arrangement of words, or syntax, is apparent in his passages. Douglas’ use of syntax always seems to be effective whether his sentences are succinct or wordy. “I will run away, I will not stand it. Get caught, or get clear, I’ll try it.” These are simple declarative sentence, yet they get to the point. The readers acknowledge that Douglass is a young and courageous boy who would do anything to gain his freedom, even if the reward is nothing more than death.

Although Douglas portraits figurative through the entire excerpt, it is particularly vivid in paragraph three where he juxtaposes the life of the ships to his own. He paints the image of a “freedom’s swift-winged angels” or freely sailed ship in contrast with him tightly chained by “bloody whip” to show his readers that even an unanimated object such as a ship can move so freely, and why is he, a human being, is restricted to freedom. Through figurative language, the readers are able to visualize his agony and desire for freedom. It is also through the anecdote of the third paragraph that the main details are found. Details in his language such as “move merrily”, “gentle gale”, “bloody whip” “swift-winged angels” “bands of irons” lead his readers to believe that he is not only writing for anyone, but for the more