Ironical Truth

After the first 10 pages of this book, we see how Frederick Douglass manipulates the reader’s thoughts and feelings to make them believe what he wants. It’s the art of persuasion, which makes us change our thoughts and walk on the charters shoes. Using different techniques Douglass catches his audience and makes them want to know what happened next.

It is most evident that Douglass used pathos; the argument of emotion to show how cruel the life of a slave was. He plays with our feelings showing us barbarous acts that get to the inside of owner hearts and develop feelings for his writing. "The poor man was then informed by his overseer that, for having found fault with his master, he was now going to be sold to a Georgia trader. He was immediately chained and handcuffed; and thus, without a moment's warning, he was snatched away, and forever sundered, from his family and friends, by hand more unrelenting than death."

Facts. The most important thing while using logos is too use real events, and information too prove your point. " To be accused was to be convicted, and to be convicted was to be punished; the one always following the other with immutable certainty." he mentions how one mistake, as big as it was, would always be punished in the same way.

Finally, the use of ethos. At the end of chapter 3, Douglass talks about how slaves would defend their masters of being better than other masters. How ironic can that be? He talks about how they believe that being the slave of a richer and more powerful man, would give then some kind of status among the slaves. But they were ignorant about the fact that their owners had no right to do such a thing as have them enslaved, to take their freedom away and to play with them as little puppets. "They seemed to think that the greatness of their masters was transferable to themselves. It was considered as being bad enough to be a slave; but to be a poor man’s slave was deemed a disgrace indeed!"