How we cite our quotes: (Sentence)
Quote #1
At the South I was a member of the Methodist Church. When I came north, I thought one Sunday I would attend communion, at one of the churches of my denomination, in the town I was staying. (1-2)
Later in the speech, we discover that Douglass' experience at his church in the South wasn't all that great. Why, then, would he have chosen to attend a service in the North? What do you think he was expecting? How was his experience the same or different?
Quote #2
At New Bedford, where I live, there was a great revival of religion not long ago—many were converted and "received" as they said, "into the kingdom of heaven." But it seems, the kingdom of heaven is like a net; at least so it was according to the practice of these pious Christians; and when the net was drawn ashore, they had to set down and cull out the fish. Well, it happened now that some of the fish had rather black scales; so these were sorted out and packed by themselves. (7-9)
Here, Douglass uses the structure of many of the parables of Jesus, which begin, "The kingdom of heaven is like..." He also plays on the idea of followers of Jesus as fishermen and the recently converted as the fish. (We want to be a swordfish because they look cool and have high levels of mercury, so no one would want to eat us.) He's saying that once you get all those fish in that net, you have to segregate them—according to the American church, anyway.
Quote #3
I used to attend a Methodist church, in which my master was a class leader; he would talk most sanctimoniously about the dear Redeemer, who was sent "to preach deliverance to the captives, and set at liberty them that are bruised" —he could pray at morning, pray at noon, and pray at night; yet he could lash up my poor cousin by his two thumbs, and inflict stripes and blows upon his bare back, till the blood streamed to the ground! all the time quoting scripture, for his authority, and appealing to that passage of the Holy Bible which says, "He that knoweth his master's will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes!" Such was the amount of this good Methodist's piety. (41-43)
Douglass bookends the speech with stories about his experiences at two different Methodist churches. Consider how this anecdote compares to the opening story. Chronologically, the first story must have happened shortly after this one, but Douglass tells the story of his experience at his first Northern church first and saves this one for the end. It's a strong finish. What's the effect of the placement of these two stories in the text?