The analysis of the "What to the Slave is the 4th of July?" speech

Fight for Freedom

The Meaning Fourth of July to the Slave

To the American society, “fourth of July” is of immense significance especially to the slavery that they underwent during the colonial period. According to Douglass speech, the day should symbolize the time the American moved from the cruelty of slavery. Nonetheless, the day was symbolic that he blamed all the section of society for not carrying on the work of the forefathers. Additionally, the day was to criticize all those that though acknowledged the work done to fight slavery, did not put efforts to discriminate the continual habits of a slave.

The Logic Douglas Used To Make His Point

In his speech, Douglass uses the aspect of rhetorical analysis to argue about the freed African American. Notably, he argues that the fourth of July is a mockery of the highest level towards the American people. He uses many rhetorical approaches to express the power of emotion that was on the subject and thus achieved a better result. Without the use of sarcasm, he asked series of rhetorical questions. The fact that he spoke about “that “declaration of independence instead of saying “the” declaration of independence portended the clear disparity between his people and those that are not oppressed.

The Effect of His Anger to the Effectiveness of the Argument

Apparently, Douglass tries to keep his anger in check thus trying to convince his listeners that he is telling the truth. He tries to calm his anger concerning slavery while he his anger at the topic and wants everyone to know it. Despite hiding his anger, he let people know how he feel. Therefore the effectiveness of the speech did not take away his anger.

A Time When I Argued A Position I Was Angry At

Sometimes arguments can get heated and get out of hands. September sixth was a day I will keep in mind in my entire life. Cases of University student dying had gotten out of hand in our college. I delivered a speech where I used Socratic Method to raise the point against the notion of the terminal case.

If I Was Able To Make an Effective Argument

During that day, everybody had a somber mood. Notably, I was able to pass the message effectively to the necessary authority by the use of rhetorical questions. Most people took the message seriously, and after the forum, there were various investigations by the local government on the matter. By the use of questions, many knew that the killings were happening were a total injustice and thus everyone took it firmly.

References

Douglass, F. (2014). What to the Slave is the 4th of July? South Chicago ABC Zine Distro.