Read the excerpt from "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”When the dogs in your streets, when the fowls of the air, when the cattle on your hills, when the fish of the sea, and the reptiles that crawl, shall be unable to distinguish the slave from a brute, then will I argue with you that the slave is a man!What effect does the repetition of the word “when” have?
Answer
A
The repetition gives the excerpt a philosophical quality.
B
The repetition distracts readers from Douglass’s original point.
C
The repetition clarifies the time in which the speech was delivered.
D
The repetition reinforces Douglass’s incredulity at the opposition’s attitudes.
Explanation
Douglass repeats “when” to build a series of extreme conditions: animals would have to be unable to distinguish enslaved people from beasts before he would argue that enslaved people are human. This repetition emphasizes how absurd and dehumanizing the opposition’s attitudes are, reinforcing his incredulity. The correct choice is “The repetition reinforces Douglass’s incredulity at the opposition’s attitudes.”
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