What to a slave is 4th of July Study Questions

Look at the opening. How does Douglass characterize himself and his relationship with the audience? Why do you think he describes himself in those terms?Does Douglass use “we” and “us” or “you”? If he changes, when does he address the audience as “you” and when does he talk about “us” and “we”? How would you explain this?Why does Douglass attack the church, especially given the fact that many abolitionist groups were affiliated with churches? Was this dangerous, and if so, why did he do it?What kinds of things does Douglass quote? What impression does this, and his speaking style, give you of what kind of person he was? Does this contribute to the effectiveness of his argument in any way? Explain.What parts of this speech might have appealed to the mind and what parts to the heart? If most of his listeners were already abolitionists, what do you think Douglass was trying to accomplish with respect to persuading them to take action?

Respuesta :

Douglass makes the introduction by professing how nervous he is in order to show the audience up and help them warm up to him. He also acts humble free whites. As the speech continues, he becomes angry. He is reaching his point about slavery makes the 4th hypocritical, and as he does so, he grows angrier and more impassioned. If slavery were to continue, it would be the death of America - would lead to war - this is where we see the dried-up river analogy. He talks about America being a great nation, and our Founding Fathers being wonderful people. He wants to use any means to convince people to end slavery. Including using the example of Joseph and his brothers, as well as the Israelites being slaves in Egypt. He praises them because they were eminent men. He thinks they were intelligent, and he thinks it is admirable that when they realized they were oppressed by Britain, they rebelled. It is hypocritical that a nation built on slavery can celebrate a day of freedom. There are laws concerning slaves. If they were not humans, there would be no need to create laws about them. Douglass appeals to both logic and emotion in his readers.