Se Slave Is the Fourth of July?
” Rhetorical Analysis Chart
Directions:
Use the annotations you made after reading “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” to complete the chart below.
Rhetorical Device Example
Provide a quote from the text
that contains an example of
where the author has used the
device in the text.
Tone “Fellow Citizens, I am not
wanting in respect for the
fathers of this republic. The
signers of the Declaration of
Independence were brave
men.”
Diction If I do forget, if I do not
faithfully remember those
bleeding children of sorrow
this day, "may my right hand
forget her cunning, and may
Ethos, Logos, or Pathos
Does the use of this device:
● Appeal to the
audience’s sense of
logic?
● Make the audience feel
a specific emotion?
● Appeal to the audience
respect l of authority?
Pathos
(makes the audience feel pride
in their founding, proud to be
an American)
Ethos
( to show if he does wrong he
will punish himself or shall not
speak again for being
incorrect)
Justification
● Why does the example
that you provided from
the text appeal to the
audience’s sense of
either ethos, logos, or
pathos? Explain.
● How does the use of
this device help make
Douglas’ speech more
persuasive?
By referring to the audience as
“citizens,” Douglass appears
polite and respectful to his
mainly white audience thus
making them feel at ease. By
treating his audience with
respect and kindness,
Douglass becomes more
persuasive since humans are
more likely to listen and agree
with speakers who make them
feel comfortable and welcome.
To show he doesn’t want to be
misleading or just to give a bull
crap speech. This examples
shows ethos because he is
gaining their respect by
 my tongue cleave to the roof of
my mouth!"
Anaphora When the dogs in your streets,
when the fowls of the air, when
the cattle on your hills, when
the fish of the sea, and the
reptiles that crawl,
Hypophora What, to the American slave, is
your 4th of July? I answer; a day
that reveals to him, more than all
other days in the year, the gross
injustice and cruelty to which he is
the constant victim.
Allusion "lame man leap as
an hart."
Enumeratio O! Had I the ability, and could
reach the nation's ear, I would, today, pour
out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting
reproach,
withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is
not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the
gentle
shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the
whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of
the nation
must be quickened; the conscience of the
nation must be roused; the propriety of the
nation must be
startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be
exposed; and its crimes against God and
man must be
proclaimed and denounced.
showing action towards his
words while telling them he
won't be incorrect.
Pathos The repetition makes the
audience feel as though they
are a part of the collective.
Thus, they are inspired to
change.
Pathos By expressing basically how
he feels towards the question
allows the audience to
understand how the nation is
“free” but still holds people
captive and mistreats them
even on a day that is
supposed to represent all.
Ethos
Pathos
Logos
Pathos Douglass manipulates his
Ethos audience into sympathizing
with him by saying what he
would do if he could be heard
by his audience. Since he was
a former slave his audience
may have already been
thinking he’s uneducated and
might not know what he’s
talking about.
It appeals to ethos because he
states that what is going on is
so bad that it’s a crime against

Hyperbole “Your high Independence only
reveals the immeasurable
distance between us”
Rhetorical Question “Do you mean, citizens, to
mock me, by asking me to
speak to-day?”
Epistrophe “This is the way we brush
our teeth, brush our teeth,
brush our teeth.”
Parallelism “My daughter likes playing
God and man.
pathos This device appeals to pathos
because it makes the
audience feel confused and
are they getting a shot taken
towards themself and founding
fathers.
First looking at the quotes it
looks insulting towards the
audience however the
audience being proud at the
moment might wanna know
why he said such things so
they listen more.
Ethos This Rhetorical Question
Pathos creates a sense of pity for the
American Slaves as well as
Fredrick Douglass himself. It
also has an impact on the
White Americans’ Ethics as it
makes them question if
bringing him up to speak on
Independence day was
morally correct.
Ethos They sing the song in a very
comfortable and welcoming
way. It's very appealing to the
audience.
Ethos In the paragraph Douglas uses
sports, but also enjoys chasing
that paper.”
parallelism to highlight the
urgency of his statement. He
uses it to talk about the racist
things he had encountered by
White people.