FD: Close Reading

Frederick Douglas, P. 38
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"...Work, work work was scarcely more the order of the day than the night. The longest days were too short for him, and the shortest nights too long for him. I was somewhat unmanageable when i first went there, but a few months of this discipline tamed me. Mr. Covey succeeded in breaking me. I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about my eye died; the dark night of slavery closed in upon me; and behold a man transformed into a brute!"

The first thing i notice about this passage is the repetion Douglas uses with, "Work, work, work". This repetion shows the demanding attitude many whites had toward slaves. The second thing i notice is how he interchanges the words, "long," and, "short." Interchanging these words shows that no matter what the slaves did, reward was never the outcome. These attitudes masters had compliment each other in the first and second sentences. The next thing I notice is the personification when he uses the word, "Tamed." This is used to show how the masters treated the slaves like animals and not like equals. The Metaphor of, "breaking me," is using pathos to invoke sorrow in the reader. The Age of Reason now comes into play with the broken, "body, soul, and spirit." The, "body," shows the diminishing of the physicality and strength of manhood, the ,"soul," shows the lessening of education, and the, "spirit," shows the dampening of religion. The Contrasting imagery of the, "spark that lingered about my eye," and the, "night of slavery," gives readers the chance to see the contrast between happiness and the life of a slave. This is also persuasion through pathos. Finally, ending with, "transformed into a brute," shows a turning point in his life of hope to a life of unhappiness.

Response to Patrick Henry Post

The first thing I notice about this speech is the pathos. Patrick Henry appeals himself to his audience in the first sentence by stating how, "highly," he respects their patriotism. Why do you consider this pathos and not his attempt to establish his ethos? It strikes me as total ethos. This is important because of the strong oppostion he states later in the piece. He also uses repetion by calling his rivals, "gentlemen," giving them respect. Ethos again! The next thing I notice is his aphorism when saying, "But different men often see the same subject in different lights," showing the importance of diverse opinion to his opposers. Interesting. Then, it is kind of a pre-emptive antithesis. These first two sentences are also extended greatly.Extended? You mean long? This extended tecnique is important because of the sudden change in the 3rd sentence. This sentence is only six words, compared to the previous fourty-seven word sentence. No need for the word count. Go ahead and quote that shorty. The reason why this short sentence is significant is because of the change in tone. This is smart reading, Michael. Just finish the thought. How does the tone shift, and why? The purpose of the article from this point is to invoke change aggressively versus the tone of appealing.
The allusion of God well, it's not really an allusion also appears at this point and beyond. The word, "Ceremony, God, Majesty of Heaven, and Kings," appear in these five sentences. This alluding is intense pathos ethos, too! because of the importance of religion in this time. Good. Just keep their version of God in mind. In here we see the Age of Reason God, who endowed men with certain inalienable rights, among them the right to liberty. Of course, it's a big smack at King George, whose rule is nothing next to "the Majesty of Heaven." Repetition also occurs in the word, "freedom." This repeated word smoothes out the transition between the argument of slavery and freedom of debate. I don't follow the previous sentence. It'd be hard to make too much of his assertion that this is matter of freedom and slavery, since this phrase begins the extended metaphor that controls the rest of the piece, and since ultimately, this is a question of liberty or death. The final thing I notice is the alliteraiton of the, "s," sound when closing the paragraph. Where? What words stand out as a result? This gives a punch to the closing line and furthers the tone of aggresiveness.
You're really working at this, Michael, and I want you to know that I see that. My comments are intended to show you how to keep pushing deeper, how to connect all the pieces you see to a larger "so what' and how to clearly articulate what you're seeing. Keep at it!

Patrick Henry: First Paragraph

The first thing I notice about this speech is the pathos. Patrick Henry appeals himself to his audience in the first sentence by stating how, "highly," he respects their patriotism. This is important because of the strong oppostion he states later in the piece. He also uses repetion by calling his rivals, "gentlemen," giving them respect. The next thing I notice is his aphorism when saying, "But different men often see the same subject in different lights," showing the importance of diverse opinion to his opposers. These first two sentences are also extended greatly. This extended tecnique is important because of the sudden change in the 3rd sentence. This sentence is only six words, compared to the previous fourty-seven word sentence. The reason why this short sentence is significant is because of the change in tone. The purpose of the article from this point is to invoke change aggressively versus the tone of appealing. The allusion of God also appears at this point and beyond. The word, "Ceremony, God, Majesty of Heaven, and Kings," appear in these five sentences. This alluding is intense pathos because of the importance of religion in this time. Repetition also occurs in the word, "freedom." This repeated word smoothes out the transition between the argument of slavery and freedom of debate. The final thing I notice is the alliteraiton of the, "s," sound when closing the paragraph. This gives a punch to the closing line and furthers the tone of aggresiveness.