Litotes
Definition: Litotes is a figure of speech that uses negative words but promotes a positive statement. The double negative words are intended to express a contrast.This literary term is used to state a positive statement, without actually stating an affirmative. They are usually expressed through an understatement. Litotes are typically put in use during speeches and rhetoric (Litotes).
Function: In litotes, two negative terms are used to portray a positive statement. This therefore causes the reader to ponder the statement. Litotes are most commonly used in rhetoric and nonfiction text because they effectively help the author communicate their argument, but they are occasionally in literature. Litotes also often express a tone of …show more content…
Douglass cannot fully embrace his victory of escaping the hands of slavery due to the fact that the “wretchedness of slavery” is still ongoing and being continuously suffered by his fellow African Americans (Douglass 92). This makes the reader ponder how can anyone embrace freedom within a country that does not allow the same right to be distributed among all of its citizens. Douglass shows the comparison of slavery to the promise of freedom. He wants the “blessedness of freedom” to be shared by all and for slavery to be abolished (Douglass 92). These two statements seem contradictory, but when analyzed it proves Douglass’s message on how liberty must be widespread to everyone in order for it to be fully …show more content…
This woman will now be “left a slave—a slave for life—” simply due to the fact her original master passed away. Douglass wants abolishment and reformation to the treatment of colored people. The addition of information shows how this innocent woman will endure the rest of her days enslaved under strangers that will continuously give out cruel treatments. It makes the reader ponder how America allowed this unfair system to continue for so long. Douglass’s purpose of this parenthesis was to enforce how slavery needs to be abolished and these innocent victims need justice for the cruelties they
Definition: Litotes is a figure of speech that uses negative words but promotes a positive statement. The double negative words are intended to express a contrast.This literary term is used to state a positive statement, without actually stating an affirmative. They are usually expressed through an understatement. Litotes are typically put in use during speeches and rhetoric (Litotes).
Function: In litotes, two negative terms are used to portray a positive statement. This therefore causes the reader to ponder the statement. Litotes are most commonly used in rhetoric and nonfiction text because they effectively help the author communicate their argument, but they are occasionally in literature. Litotes also often express a tone of …show more content…
Douglass cannot fully embrace his victory of escaping the hands of slavery due to the fact that the “wretchedness of slavery” is still ongoing and being continuously suffered by his fellow African Americans (Douglass 92). This makes the reader ponder how can anyone embrace freedom within a country that does not allow the same right to be distributed among all of its citizens. Douglass shows the comparison of slavery to the promise of freedom. He wants the “blessedness of freedom” to be shared by all and for slavery to be abolished (Douglass 92). These two statements seem contradictory, but when analyzed it proves Douglass’s message on how liberty must be widespread to everyone in order for it to be fully …show more content…
This woman will now be “left a slave—a slave for life—” simply due to the fact her original master passed away. Douglass wants abolishment and reformation to the treatment of colored people. The addition of information shows how this innocent woman will endure the rest of her days enslaved under strangers that will continuously give out cruel treatments. It makes the reader ponder how America allowed this unfair system to continue for so long. Douglass’s purpose of this parenthesis was to enforce how slavery needs to be abolished and these innocent victims need justice for the cruelties they