Your Name: ___________________________________________
Your Name: _______________________________________March 5th, 2014 ______________________
TIMELINE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS
(All dates are approximate since slaves were kept ignorant of the concept of time or dates.)
1818 Frederick Bailey (Douglass) born in Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, Maryland. Mother—Harriet
Bailey,a slave; father—a white man, perhaps the master. Separated from mother in infancy.
1824 Harriet Bailey dies; seen only by son four or five times when she’d travel twelve miles by foot at
night.
1817-1825 Lived on the “Great House Farm” plantation of Colonel Edward Lloyd; master was Captain
Anthony,Colonel Lloyd’s clerk.
1825 Moved to Baltimore, Maryland, home of Mr. Hugh Auld, brother of Colonel Lloyd’s son-inlaw,Captain Thomas Auld.
1825 Mrs. Sophia Auld, new mistress, begins to teach Frederick to read; Mr. Auld finds out and forbids
it,calling it “unlawful” and “unsafe.”
1825-1832 Lives with Aulds; continues to learn to read and write, often bribing the poor white children
to help him.
Your Name: ___________________________________________
Parallelism, or parallel construction, occurs when a writer or speaker expresses ideas
of equal worth with the same grammatical form. The statement, "Veni, vidi, vici," (I
came, I saw, I conquered) by Julius Caesar is an example of parallelism.
Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.
PARALLELISM: However, the following sentence does not use parallelism: "King Alfred
tried to make clear laws that had precision and were equitable."
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
Or, as one student wrote, "Her purpose was to impress the ignorant, to perplex the dubious,
and to startle the complacent." Shakespeare used this device to good effect in Richard
II when King Richard laments his unfortunate position:
I'll give my jewels for a set of beads,
My gorgeous palace for a hermitage,
My gay apparel for an almsman's gown,
My figured goblets for a dish of wood . . . . (3.3.170-73)
Antithetical Parallelism
text analysis: rhetorical devices
Rhetorical devices are structures within language that appeal
to readers or listeners and communicate ideas.
• A rhetorical question is a question to which no answer is
expected. (But when shall we be stronger?)
• Antithesis expresses contrasting ideas in parallel
grammatical structures. (Give me liberty, or give me death!)
• Repetition is the recurrence of words, phrases, or lines.
(Let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!)
• Parallelism is a kind of repetition in which words or phrases
in the same grammatical form connect ideas. (Is life so dear,
or peace so sweet . . .)
• Biblical allusions are references to events, figures, or phrases
Your Name: ___________________________________________
from the Bible. In this selection, they have the rhetorical
appeal of shared beliefs.
As you read Henry’s speech, be on the lookout for rhetorical
devices and how they might have affected his audience
1. define: give a definition
2. find: get an example
3. “mine”: make your own example
4. refine: improve your definition with your additions; make it more subtle or accurate for
YOU
Your Name: ___________________________________________
Following are four rhetorical devices with their definitions and examples. These are
intended to help you with the backside of the paper.
Parallelism: Using the same grammatical structure for similar terms. When the writer
establishes similar patterns of grammatical structure and length. Examples:
"Ms. Stafford tried to make her instruction clear, precise, and equitable." This sentence has
parallel structure in use of adjectives.
“Democracy demands responsibility, whereas tyranny demands obedience.” This sentence
has parallel construction with both the verbs – demands and nouns: tyranny and obedience.
It is also an example of antithetical parallelism – see the next definition.
Antithetical parallelism/Antithesis: when parallelism is used to juxtapose words, phrases,
or clauses that contrast. Positioning contrasting elements next to each other can give a complete
picture and emphasize the difference. Examples:
“And so my fellow Americans, ask not, what your country can do for you. Ask what you can
do for your country.”
“When Neil Armstrong walked on the moon it might have been one small step for a man but
it was one giant leap for mankind.”
“Give me liberty, or give me death!”
Asyndeton: The omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence; leaving out
words to accelerate a rhythm. Examples:
“Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.”
"I came, I saw, I conquered”. This is an example of asyndeton because of the absence of
conjunctions or “connections.” It’s also an example of parallelism with the verbs (came,
saw, conquered).
Extra unrelated notes: (Note that the period is outside the quotes because I’m quoting
Shakespeare, a British author, and this Caesar is also using anaphora with the repetition
of “I,” which I hope you remember from our poetry unit.)
Rhetorical Question: A question that is not asked to secure an answer, but rather to move
forward the development of an idea
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely…”
There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be
satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the
unspeakable horrors of police brutality.
Your Name: ___________________________________________
Directions: After listening to Douglass’ speech, answer the following questions:
1) How would you summarize – to briefly state in your own words – the purpose and the tone of
Frederick Douglass’ “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro”?
2) What was the most memorable part of the speech to you? Identify a line or section that had
particular impact on you, and explain why you think it was impactful to you.
3) Using the definitions on the other side of this paper, and Douglass’ “What to the slave is
the Fourth of July?” please define in your own words and provide a specific example of
the following rhetorical devices. While you have the entire text of the speech on your
iPads, I have highlighted the excerpt below for your convenience.
What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all
other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your
celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity;
your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted
impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your
sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast,
fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation
of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the
people of these United States, at this very hour.
Rhetorical Question:
Parallelism:
Antithetical parallelism:
Asyndeton:
Your Name: ___________________________________________
After listening to Douglass’ speech, answer the following questions:
4) How would you summarize – to briefly state in your own words – the purpose of Frederick
Douglass’ “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro”?
5) What was the most memorable part of the speech to you? Identify a line or section that had
particular impact on you, and explain why you think it was impactful to you. (Extra note to David
Steege & Anyone Else Who is Tempted to Respond Creatively: “Nothing was memorable” is not
an acceptable response.)
6)
7)
Your Name: ___________________________________________
8)
The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro
by Frederick Douglass
A speech given at Rochester, New York, July 5, 1852
Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens:
He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves
than I have. I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any
assembly more shrinkingly, nor with greater distrust of my ability, than I do this day.
A feeling has crept over me quite unfavorable to the exercise of my limited powers of
speech. The task before me is one which requires much previous thought and study
for its proper performance. I know that apologies of this sort are generally considered
flat and unmeaning. I trust, however, that mine will not be so considered. Should I
seem at ease, my appearance would much misrepresent me. The little experience I
have had in addressing public meetings, in country school houses, avails me nothing
on the present occasion.
Your Name: ___________________________________________
The papers and placards say that I am to deliver a Fourth of July Oration. This
certainly sounds large, and out of the common way, for me. It is true that I have often
had the privilege to speak in this beautiful Hall, and to address many who now honor
me with their presence. But neither their familiar faces, nor the perfect gage I think I
have of Corinthian Hall seems to free me from embarrassment.
The fact is, ladies and gentlemen, the distance between this platform and the slave
plantation, from which I escaped, is considerable-and the difficulties to he overcome
in getting from the latter to the former are by no means slight. That I am here to-day
is, to me, a matter of astonishment as well as of gratitude. You will not, therefore, be
surprised, if in what I have to say I evince no elaborate preparation, nor grace my
speech with any high sounding exordium. With little experience and with less
learning, I have been able to throw my thoughts hastily and imperfectly together; and
trusting to your patient and generous indulgence I will proceed to lay them before
you.
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