The following compares two autobiographical texts told by two authors describing their childhoods. Although they were both children in the 1800s, they had very different perspectives and tones about their lives. The texts being compared are “Life on the Mississippi – Chapter IV, The Boys’ Ambition”, by Mark Twain and “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave – Chapter V”, by Frederick Douglass.
Frederick Douglass was a slave and tells the story about his experience. He had to be extra careful to write in a way that readers would believe he was telling the truth. Many did not believe a slave had the intelligence to write so he used diction to make sure that his words were appropriately chosen. He also was very objective in his descriptions so that it would be more believable. An example of him being objective is when he states how he had no clothing at all, he lists all the pieces of clothing he did not have in detail, “I was kept almost naked—no shoes, no stockings, no jacket, no trousers, nothing on but a coarse tow linen shirt, reaching only to my knees.” Frederick was objective so that his story would be more credible because he knew his audience would not easily believe his story. …show more content…
He shows emotion in his description of the town, a sleepy calm town and then one full of excitement as the daily boat arrives. His fond memories of his childhood town come through in his description, “After all these years I can picture that old time to myself now, just as it was then: the white town drowsing in the sunshine of a summer's morning.” He has many dreams with his friends but the one biggest of all is to be a steamboatman. Twain is more subjective and uses emotion in his writing and we see this when he describes the town as the boat arrives, “every house and store pours out a human contribution, and all in a twinkling the dead town is alive and
Frederick Douglass was a slave and tells the story about his experience. He had to be extra careful to write in a way that readers would believe he was telling the truth. Many did not believe a slave had the intelligence to write so he used diction to make sure that his words were appropriately chosen. He also was very objective in his descriptions so that it would be more believable. An example of him being objective is when he states how he had no clothing at all, he lists all the pieces of clothing he did not have in detail, “I was kept almost naked—no shoes, no stockings, no jacket, no trousers, nothing on but a coarse tow linen shirt, reaching only to my knees.” Frederick was objective so that his story would be more credible because he knew his audience would not easily believe his story. …show more content…
He shows emotion in his description of the town, a sleepy calm town and then one full of excitement as the daily boat arrives. His fond memories of his childhood town come through in his description, “After all these years I can picture that old time to myself now, just as it was then: the white town drowsing in the sunshine of a summer's morning.” He has many dreams with his friends but the one biggest of all is to be a steamboatman. Twain is more subjective and uses emotion in his writing and we see this when he describes the town as the boat arrives, “every house and store pours out a human contribution, and all in a twinkling the dead town is alive and