Compare_and_Contrast

The Glorious Speeches of Two Glorious Men A fire and brimstone preacher, Jonathan Edwards was a stalwart Puritan and much of his Calvinist background is apparent in the frightening imagery of his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." He used personification, hyperbole, and alliteration to strike the fear into his congregation. In fact, the image of the bottomless pit of hell whose fiery floods wax high enough to burn the gossamer thread that holds the unworthy souls over it evoked so much terror in the congregation of Edwards that women fainted and men became terrorized and trembled. Frederick Douglass tried to evoke a desire for Liberation amongst the African-American people in his writings and oratory. To many people, Douglass appeared to be the Moses of that time, leading his people to freedom not only physically, but mentally and getting there by non-violent means. Douglass believed that if he could successfully show that blacks were in fact equal to whites, he thought that in turn everyone would recognize this and put an end to slavery while using exaggeration, rhetorical questions, and emotional appeals in hopes of changing their minds about oppression. Even though both men have very different backgrounds, they both fight against misery, hypocrisy, and the sins of humanity; one trying to relieve people of their sins and making them see the light, while another relieving people from the grasp and corruption of slavery that its immoral and wrong. Jonathan Edwards's sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is moving and powerful. His effectiveness as an eighteenth century New England religious leader is rooted in his expansive knowledge of the Bible and human nature, as well as a genuine desire to "awaken" and save as many souls as possible. His understanding of this cornerstone of New England society enables him to reinforce a persuasive dissertation with biblical quotes and passages. These instances of manipulation occur in the a section where Edwards attempts to prove the basis of his application. "There is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of god that holds you up” (Sinner’s in the Hands of an Angry God, paragraph 1) is used by Edwards to illustrate God's justifiably immediate destruction of those guilty of sin. Just as effective as language manipulation is Edwards's use of language transformation; his employment of descriptive language adds a visual dimension to his message. Even if the foundation is misinterpreted, these transformations allow any listener to mentally "see" his overall direction. For instance, his personification and simile of God's wrath is referred to as "great waters that are dammed"(Sinner’s in the Hands of an Angry God, paragraph 4), "a glittering sword", and a "drawn arrow" (paragraph 5). Jonathan Edwards wants to instill fear into his congregation in order to make them see how easily God can let go of people and how easily he can destroy them with his grace. On the other hand, sinners are likened to "worms of the dust", "miserable creatures", and "loathsome insects"; consequently, these labels are receptors of God's wrath through the forces Edwards introduces. Frederick Douglass' oration is analyzed in light of his change of opinion on the Constitution as a pro-slavery document, “with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy-a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.” (Speech Given in Rochester, paragraph 4). Situating the speech in the context of Douglass' change of opinion on the Constitution and his split with the Garrisonians provides a fuller appreciation of the speech as a defining rhetorical moment in Douglass' career and advances an historical understanding of the speech. The "close reading" of the text considers his use of comparison via thesis and antithesis as the organizing principle of his speech and as the primary rhetorical strategy by which he adapted the occasion of the Fourth of July oration to the task of making "the past useful" in "behalf of emancipation" and advanced an interpretational consistency among the abolitionists cause, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. Edwards was a man of education, service, study, and passion. Whether pastoring a large church, studying God’s Word or the physical world, serving as a missionary, or teaching college students, Edwards was passionate about glorifying his Savior and Lord, while Douglass was a self educated man with his own vast of knowledge and was self-motivated who faced many adversities along his life to become the great orator, social reformer, and writer he was back then. Both were out on a quest to for the same purpose: to abolish something that was wrong to the society. A fire and brimstone preacher and the Moses of his time continued to give their speeches in hopes of freeing their congregations of corruption and sin and seeing the light of righteousness, making their worlds a better place to be. One evokes a desire for liberation of slavery in society, when another also evokes liberation of slavery from tragedy and sin in people’s lives.