The three rhetorical devices are logos, ethos, and pathos. Each of these are used in Frederick Douglass' "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" This speach was intended show non-slaves how a national holiday might not be celebrated by every person in the United States of America, and most, if not all, slaves would be mourning the day, considering they are not free as their masters were. Logos is the first rhetorical device that will be examined. It simply means logic. An example of logos is when Douglass says "There are seventy-two crimes in the state of virginia, which, if committed by a black man (no matter how ignorant he may be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of these same crimes will subject a white man to …show more content…
This device is certainly the least used in this speach. One example of ethos in this speach is when Douglass says "Another example of logos is seen when Douglass says "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down. Yea! we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there, they that carried us away captive, required of us a song; and they who wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let me tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth" (1003). This is all from Psalms 137: 1-6, which is a book in the Bible. This shows that Douglass has read the Bible, and is therefore somewhat educated and has the same morals most Chritians …show more content…
This is basically anything that makes the audience feel something. It is also the most used in this speach. An example of pathos occurs when Douglass says "The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn" (1003). This is pathos because it makes the audience feel guilty for celebrating something that so many others can not. Another example is "There is not a man beneath the canopy of heaven that does not know that slavery is wrong for him" (1004). This makes the audience feel guilty for knowing that they would never volunteer to be a slave, yet they have no problem owning some and treating them cruelly. Finally, pathos can be seen another time when Douglass says "What! am I to argue that it is wrong to make men brutes, to rob them of their liberty, to work them without wages, to keep them ignorant of their relations to their fellow men, to beat them with sticks, to flay their flesh with the lash, to load their limbs with irons, to hunt them with dogs, to sell tem at auction, to surrender their families, to knock out their teeth, to burn their flesh, to starve them into obedience and submission to
Writers use pathos, ethos, and logos in their writing to appeal to their audience. Pathos is an appeal to emotions, ethos is an appeal to trust, and logos is an appeal to reasoning or logic. Frederick Douglass's, " What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" is about his views and the views of many slaves towards the Fourth of July. He uses ethos, pathos, and logos effectively to convey his central message.
The speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” opens with Frederick Douglas explaining how he was asked to give a speech on the Fourth of July. He then gives a brief statement about how hard his journey has been and now he will try to lay out his thoughts to the audience. He talks about how this is a day of celebration for their nation, not his nation. Douglas talks about how young the nation is, and how many obstacles they will soon have to face. He goes on to talk
In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Atticus Finch includes many examples of ethos, pathos, and logos in his closing argument. It is most likely that the best device that would be used to sway the jury would be logos. Because the facts in the Ewell’s testimony do not add up in accordance to the testimony of Tom Robinson, using more reasonable evidence would be more persuading to the jury. Although logos is a very crucial part of this trial, the devices ethos and pathos are also important.
There are many uses of rhetoric in “The Crisis No. 1”. Paine uses a plentiful amount of logos in this essay. He uses it to explain logically that the colonies would thrive if they were free from British rule. He pairs his use of logos with lots of pathos. He tries to get the American patriots upset with the British in order for them to be more willing to fight against them. For example, he uses pathos when telling the story of the Tory tavern keeper who made a so called ignorant statement in front of his child. The tone he used when speaking about the tavern keeper seemed almost furious! The impact of his use of tone leaves the reader appalled. Similarly, he also uses pathos when he equates offensive war to murder; “...I believe, could have induced me to support an offensive war, for I think it murder...”(Paine 90).
Another literary technique that Douglass uses in his narrative is ethos. Ethos appeals to a writer’s character or credibility. Christianity is Douglass’s focus throughout his narration. He uses it to show the ethical irregularities essential to the practice of slavery. It’s particularly moving in chapter ten in the character of Edward Covey. Mr. Covey looks at himself as a very religious and spiritual Christian and attempts to swindle himself and God, however his evil actions expose him to be nothing more than a two-faced sinner. Douglass stated that Mr. Covey’s “…life was devoted to planning and perpetrating the grossest deceptions. Every thing he possessed in the shape of learning or religion, he made conform to his disposition to deceive.” This linked the readers by portraying an extremely clear sample of the ethical paradox of being a Christian and a slave owner.
Logos is like the plan, or the logical steps it takes to convince someone. Lady Macbeth revels her logical plan on 1.7:62 “when Duncan is asleep whereto the rather shall his day’s soundly invite him-him chamberlains will I with wine and wassail so convince that memory, the warder of the brain, shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason lime beck only.” Here lady Macbeth is speaking logically explaining her plan to drunken the kings and lay him a a very deep sleep in his bedroom. The plan is told to Macbeth and meant to assure him how feasible it really is. The last thing that Lady Macbeth says before Macbeth is finally convinced is on 1.7:78-79 “who dares receive it other, as we shall make our griefs and clamor roar upon his death.” This is the final logical thing to do is play along. Pretend to grieve over Duncan’s death and no one will suspect it was you. All lady Macbeth’s methods including this was finally convince
Wizardry and witchcraft are another way Logos can be used. Special incantations can bring pleasure and also avert grief. These incantations can unite with the soul, persuade, and then change it with witchcraft (82B1110). Gorgias says that two types of witchcraft have been invented. One is through the errors of the soul. The other is from deceptions in the mind (Freeman).
An example of this comes from the middle of the book during the trial scene. In Atticus's’ argument that Tom Robinson is innocent he provides the jury with information that should ultimately prove him right by saying, "(...)There is circumstantial evidence to indicate that Mayella Ewell was beaten savagely by someone who led almost exclusively with his left... and Tom Robinson now sits before you, having taken the oath with the only good hand he possesses - his right hand" (Lee 204), which is sound logic that should exonerate Tom Robinson. This solid evidence should prove to the court that Tom is innocent, but considering that the people of the jury have a racial bias (they are quick to favor the opinion of the white Mayella Ewell and her father Bob Ewell), that will keep them from making the most logical decision. Even so, the technique of logos helps with Atticus’s credibility and also makes the reader feel sorry for Tom because, despite the clear data, the jury still finds him guilty. Another moment that comes from the same section of text is during Atticus’s closing argument where he explains to the jury why Tom Robinson is innocent. As he addresses his audience he says, “The state has not produced one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime Tom Robinson is charged with ever took place. It has relied instead upon
Frederick Douglass states “Nothing would have been done if I had been killed… such remains, the state of things in the Christian city of Baltimore” (124) and conveys his audience through the use of thoughtful pathos and shameful satire. Frederick Douglass was a slave himself and he acknowledged that the death of slaves brought no pity into the slave owners’ minds. To evoke feeling into his white abolitionist and non-abolitionist audience, he placed himself into the situation of being the one who gets killed. As a result of using death, Douglass provokes anger since these individuals did not consider the death of a slave as significantly important.
Paragraph three is different from all the other paragraphs in this passage in that, in paragraph one, Douglass talks of his troubling background during the time with Mr. Covey. In paragraph two he reflects over his situation, while gazing over the Chesapeake Bay. In paragraph three Douglass uses stylistic elements of imagery, diction and rhetorical question, to express himself. In paragraph one Douglas talks about his past, he opens the paragraph by saying “Drink the bitterest dregs of slavery Douglas uses the metaphor of dregs to describe the torment of slavery, he compares bitter dregs to describe how he lived as a slave.
In paragraph 4 Douglass comes to understand injustice after the murder of his wife’s cousin, and we come to know that with "Mr. Gore's defense was satisfactory... His horrid crime was not even submitted to judicial investigation.''. This quote is Logos because of the logistics of the situation, and that's that even though this person killed a human being, he will still not be tried for his actions while had I committed that crime I would have been tried. This quote even speaks towards american values and that value is family as a family member of Douglass has been striped away from his life. Logos can also be found in metaphors or in analogies, like in this quote “We were all ranked together at the valuation. Men and women, old and young, married and single, were ranked with horses, sheep, and swine. There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being”. What this quote is speaking about is how low these humans are value in their society, so low that their value is comparable with pigs and sheep. This quote shows how men aren't really equal to other men but instead are equal to other
For example, when Patrick Henry is trying to convince the Americans that they need to stop ignoring the truth and realize that the British are trying to take advantage of them he says, “Are we apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth? And listen to the song of that siren, until she transforms us into beasts”. When he says this he is alluding to the Odyssey which in turn helps him gain credibility with his audience who are a bunch of intelligent congressmen. It also made him more credible because if he was able to quote old works of literature then it made him seem like he knew what he was talking about so people would be more adept to listening to what he has to say. Patrick Henry also uses logos when he consistently ask rhetorically questions like “But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or next year…?” When Patrick Henry asked them this question he wasn’t really looking for a response but instead looking for realization. He wanted these men to realize that the British were taking advantage of them and they needed to take a stand to stop them before it got out of hand. When Patrick Henry used ethos, logos, and pathos in his writing it helped him be more persuasive which in turn made his writings and speeches that much more powerful. As
Pathos is primarily used in the list of grievances against the king. In the grievances Jefferson uses words such as tyrant to describe the king, he also states that the British government leaves the colonies exposed to the “danger of invasion from without, and convulsions within.” This statement tells the people that the tyrant king does not care for the safety and wellbeing of the colonies. Jefferson then goes on to say that the British send “swarms of officers to harass our people” and that these officers have “mock trial” that protect them “from punishment for any murders” which they commit. They provide a few more arguments that show the cruelty of the king and british government and ends their use of pathos with “A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free
Lincoln uses pathos, ethos, and logos in order to persuade his audience. He uses pathos in a way that appeals to the audience’s feelings about the war. Lincoln also uses logos to show facts and details, an example would be “one eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the union, but localized in the southern part of it. Then Lincoln uses ethos for credibility to give people an even better reason to listen to him, and his credibility is that he is the president.
Logos appeals to logic, which allows the writer to address questions and counterpoints to anyone who may refute. You will discover King’s use of logos during his speech when he states, “It would be fatal for the nation to