It takes a certain writing flare to strongly communicate or give color to a text. Anyone can write, but it’s more about how you communicate to your audience versus just plain old writing. Alliterations, metaphors, similes, and so on can help in creating a vivid narration. Frederick Douglass uses a variety of figurative language in his pieces, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and My Bondage and My Freedom. His use of figurative language, strong verbs, and the fact this his collection of writings is a narrative style format is also the reason it is so effortless to read and understand his literature. In Douglass’ My Life and Bondage, he writes “Disappearing from the kind reader, in a flying cloud or balloon (pardon the figure), driven
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He writes, "I was hungry, and he gave me meat; I was thirsty, and he gave me drink; I was a stranger, and he took me in", this is a biblical reference, Matthew 25:35. Another reference I managed to pick up on thanks to my semester in British Literature in high school was a quote from William Shakespeare’s iconic play, Hamlet. Douglass writes, “rather bear those ills we had, than fly to others, that we knew not of.” I considered this an appropriate quote that Douglass chose because in the previous sentences he writes, “we were stung by scorpions, chased by wild beasts, bitten by snakes, and finally after having nearly reached the desired spot, we were overtaken by our pursuers, and, in our resistance, we were shot dead upon the spot.” That sentence is what introduced the quote, Douglass explains his journey when trying to escape from his masters and encountering obstacles that are just as dangerous. Also, regarding the quote itself, I feel as though Douglass is saying he should’ve tolerated the pain his masters inflicted on him, instead of running off and encountering more pain. There is an abundance more of references hidden in his work. Benjamin Franklin also references Sir Isaac Newton, John Locke, Alexander Pope, and a handful of biblical references, as well in his piece, The Autobiography of Benjamin
He writes, "I was hungry, and he gave me meat; I was thirsty, and he gave me drink; I was a stranger, and he took me in", this is a biblical reference, Matthew 25:35. Another reference I managed to pick up on thanks to my semester in British Literature in high school was a quote from William Shakespeare’s iconic play, Hamlet. Douglass writes, “rather bear those ills we had, than fly to others, that we knew not of.” I considered this an appropriate quote that Douglass chose because in the previous sentences he writes, “we were stung by scorpions, chased by wild beasts, bitten by snakes, and finally after having nearly reached the desired spot, we were overtaken by our pursuers, and, in our resistance, we were shot dead upon the spot.” That sentence is what introduced the quote, Douglass explains his journey when trying to escape from his masters and encountering obstacles that are just as dangerous. Also, regarding the quote itself, I feel as though Douglass is saying he should’ve tolerated the pain his masters inflicted on him, instead of running off and encountering more pain. There is an abundance more of references hidden in his work. Benjamin Franklin also references Sir Isaac Newton, John Locke, Alexander Pope, and a handful of biblical references, as well in his piece, The Autobiography of Benjamin