The purpose of the use of juxtaposition in the passage is to compare interpretations of a national holiday. Frederick Douglass contrasts the celebratory experience of Independence Day for white Americans with the mourning and despair felt by enslaved individuals, highlighting the stark differences between their experiences and understandings of freedom and liberty.
Analyzing Informational Text Unit Test
17 of 2017 of 20 Items
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"What, To a Slave, is the Fourth of July?"
by Frederick Douglass
But such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony.
What, to a Slave, is the Fourth of July?
Question
Use the passage to answer the question.
What is the purpose of the use of juxtaposition in the passage?
(1 point)
Responses
to celebrate America’s founding ideals
to celebrate America’s founding ideals
to push for civil protections for minority groups
to push for civil protections for minority groups
to question the legality of America’s independence
to question the legality of America’s independence
to compare interpretations of a national holiday
to compare interpretations of a national holiday
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