Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass Dialectical Journal
YOUR NAME HERE: Cristina Villegas PERIOD: 6
Dialectical Journal for Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
ATTENTION: you must complete 5 journal entries. MAKE SURE that you are ANALYZING, not summarizing!!! Your analysis MAY NOT have the word “quote” in it anywhere, nor should you start your analysis with “this shows,” or “here Douglass uses.” Instead, indentify the ACTION that is taking place in terms of language. If you see a biblical allusion, type “Douglass employs biblical allusion to emphasize…” or something similar. You may NOT use first (“I,” “me,” “we,” “us”) or second person (“you”). Also, you should not begin every sentence with “Douglass.” Stick to ONE focused point per entry.
SIGNIFICANT QUOTES or paraphrases followed by citation
Ex: “blah, blah, blah” (12).
Ex: “blah, blah, blah!” (12).
Ex: “blah, blah, blah?”(12).
ANALYSIS: Move beyond plot to reflect on Douglass’s use of rhetoric to further his agenda. What is Douglass’s PURPOSE in the selected quote—what is his argument, his message, and how does his language help or hinder that purpose? Pretend the narrative is a giant essay with a group of specific arguments and then analyze it for its use of rhetoric. I am aware that the overall message is always going to be “slavery is wrong and should be abolished,” but what nuanced arguments does Douglass present within that same argument?
“If anyone wishes to be impressed with the soul-killing effects of slavery, let him go to Colonel Lloyd’s plantation, and, on allowance-day, place himself in the deep pine woods, and there let him, in silence, analyze the sounds that shall pass through the chambers of his soul, - and if he is not thus impressed, it will only be because ‘there is no flesh in his obdurate heart’” (9).
After describing his experience in hearing these sorrowful songs when he was young, Douglass separates himself from his
Dialectical Journal for Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
ATTENTION: you must complete 5 journal entries. MAKE SURE that you are ANALYZING, not summarizing!!! Your analysis MAY NOT have the word “quote” in it anywhere, nor should you start your analysis with “this shows,” or “here Douglass uses.” Instead, indentify the ACTION that is taking place in terms of language. If you see a biblical allusion, type “Douglass employs biblical allusion to emphasize…” or something similar. You may NOT use first (“I,” “me,” “we,” “us”) or second person (“you”). Also, you should not begin every sentence with “Douglass.” Stick to ONE focused point per entry.
SIGNIFICANT QUOTES or paraphrases followed by citation
Ex: “blah, blah, blah” (12).
Ex: “blah, blah, blah!” (12).
Ex: “blah, blah, blah?”(12).
ANALYSIS: Move beyond plot to reflect on Douglass’s use of rhetoric to further his agenda. What is Douglass’s PURPOSE in the selected quote—what is his argument, his message, and how does his language help or hinder that purpose? Pretend the narrative is a giant essay with a group of specific arguments and then analyze it for its use of rhetoric. I am aware that the overall message is always going to be “slavery is wrong and should be abolished,” but what nuanced arguments does Douglass present within that same argument?
“If anyone wishes to be impressed with the soul-killing effects of slavery, let him go to Colonel Lloyd’s plantation, and, on allowance-day, place himself in the deep pine woods, and there let him, in silence, analyze the sounds that shall pass through the chambers of his soul, - and if he is not thus impressed, it will only be because ‘there is no flesh in his obdurate heart’” (9).
After describing his experience in hearing these sorrowful songs when he was young, Douglass separates himself from his