PathosPathos uses emotional appeals to convince an audience. The speaker's tone, word choice, and imagery are all intended to provoke an emotional response.Douglass aims to provoke several emotions...

When Frederick Douglass escaped from slavery, one of the things he took with him was his copy of The Columbian Orator, a textbook that taught, among other things, those classical rhetorical skills...

Sarcastic, AngryDouglass is mad as a hornet. Why in the name of all the hoop skirts in America would these people ask him to talk about American liberty? Check out what he lays down early on:To dra...

Classical, FormalAs we noted in "Structure," this speech is an example of classical oratory, which means the language is formal and the sentences are long. There are a lot of rhetorical questions m...

This isn't too much of a puzzle…even though this speech is known by a few different titles. Depending on where you read it, it's either "The Hypocrisy of American Slavery" or "On the Hypocrisy of...

Fellow citizens, pardon me, and allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I or those I represent to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of politi...

Go search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse and when you have found the last, lay your facts by t...

(4) Base CampThe "Main Idea" section is the way into "The Hypocrisy of American Slavery." Once you've got that key concept down, you can explore how Douglass supports his points. Now, Douglass was...

In-Text ReferencesLiterary and Philosophical ReferencesDeclaration of Independence (3)U.S. Constitution (33)Bible (33)Historical and Political References"I will not equivocate—I will not excuse,"...

February was chosen as Black History Month in part to honor the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. (Source) Frederick Douglass was the most photographed 19th-century American. Let...