Question

Read these sentences from the excerpt:

I would sometimes say to them, I wished I could be as free as they would be when they got to be men. "You will be free as soon as you are twenty-one, but I am a slave for life! Have not I as good a right to be free as you have?"

How does Douglass best use rhetoric to advance his purpose in this excerpt?


He uses a rhetorical question to heavily emphasize the fact that he deserves freedom.

He uses a rhetorical question because he is unsure of his beliefs.

He repeats words in order to share his beliefs with the readers.

He repeats the word free to show the reader his point.

Answer 1

A) He uses a rhetorical question to heavily emphasize the fact that he deserves freedom.

Explanation:

Rhetorical questions refer to questions asked to establish a dramatic effect or present a side/perspective rather than get a response. In the given excerpt, the speaker used a rhetorical question to highlight his belief that he ACTUALLY deserves freedom. He is not unsure of the idea, rather, he is emphasizing that he deserves it because freedom is supposed to be a right, not a choice.