The Rhetoric of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln

Harvard FAS

This course is a critical examination of the speeches and rhetoric of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, who are among the greatest orators and nonfiction writers in English. We explore Douglass’s and Lincoln’s rhetorical practices, especially in relation to their politics and self-making. Along the way, we analyze the influences (the Bible, the literary canon at the time, journalism, regional writings) that contributed to their oratory. And we explore the contexts of their…