ANALYSIS sample

Syntax:  The intentional emphasis on word order/structure of a sentence or phrase; to analyze syntax one can consider sentence form and structure, repetition, and/or punctuation.  

Example:

"You are loosed from your moorings, and are free; I am fast in my chains, and am a slave! You move merrily before the gentle gale, and I sadly before the bloody whip! You are freedom's swift-winged angels, that fly round the world; I am confined in bands of iron! O that I were free! O, that I were on one of your gallant decks, and under your protecting wing! Alas! betwixt me and you, the turbid waters roll. Go on, go on. O that I could also go! Could I but swim! If I could fly! O, why was I born a man, of whom to make a brute! The glad ship is gone; she hides in the dim distance. I am left in the hottest hell of unending slavery. O God, save me! God, deliver me! Let me be free! Is there any God? Why am I a slave? I will run away. I will not stand it. Get caught, or get clear, I'll try it. I had as well die with ague as the fever. I have only one life to lose. I had as well be killed running as die standing. Only think of it; one hundred miles straight north, and I am free! Try it? Yes! God helping me, I will. It cannot be that I shall live and die a slave. I will take to the water. This very bay shall yet bear me into freedom. The steamboats steered in a north-east course from North Point. I will do the same; and when I get to the head of the bay, I will turn my canoe adrift, and walk straight through Delaware into Pennsylvania. When I get there, I shall not be required to have a pass; I can travel without being disturbed. Let but the first opportunity offer, and, come what will, I am off. Meanwhile, I will try to bear up under the yoke. I am not the only slave in the world. Why should I fret? I can bear as much as any of them. Besides, I am but a boy, and all boys are bound to someone. It may be that my misery in slavery will only increase my happiness when I get free. There is a better day coming."

Analysis:

Douglass’ complex use of syntax in this section of the text allows for a clearer look into feelings and thoughts that he struggles with. His emotions are confused within himself, which the reader can figure out by his use of questions he is asking to no one but himself. He is clearly having an identity crisis in that he questions whether “there [is] any god?” or “why [he’s] a slave?”. These questions are showing a lack of faith and a questioning of an aspect of himself he has lived with forever. This paragraph begins with Douglass’ internal crisis that includes apparent anger by his comparison of what the freeman has compared to what he has as a slave. He says, “You move merrily before the gentle gale, and I sadly before the bloody whip!” This comparison and others like it in this section of the text express his anger and intense desire to be free, emphasized by his use of the exclamation point and use of contrasting words like “gentle” and “bloody.” The second half of the paragraph is then less forceful and urgent, but rather is calm and resolved. He discusses his plan, things he knows for certain he will do: “The steamboats steered in a north-east course from North Point. I will do the same; and when I get to the head of the bay, I will turn my canoe adrift, and walk straight through Delaware into Pennsylvania.” He is no longer using exclamation points, which shows his excitement has lessened, and he uses “I will” multiple times to show the determination he built up in this moment. Douglass’ syntax is successful because enhances the understanding of his purpose by displaying a sense of urgency to the reader at first, followed by what appears to be a decision he has made based on his prior emotional struggle.