The Genius of Wheatley's Manipulation Saad Iftikhar College

In "To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth, His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for North America," Phillis Wheatley, through her convincing use of pathos and masterful manipulation of poetic elements, implores Earl William Legge to sympathize with her efforts to further the reaches of freedom and human civility in colonial America, while also attempting to dispel and discourage future instances of tyranny. While admittedly difficult to implore favor so kindly from a race that took away almost all notions of Wheatley’s culture and heritage, regardless she sacrifices her pride in an attempt to rescue future generations of African Americans.

Few events in the history of the United States can even begin to compare to the horrific and unforgiving nature of slavery, and Wheatley takes full advantage of this undeniable fact when relating the harrowing details of her removal from Africa. By saying, "I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate/ Was snatch’d from Afric’s fancied happy seat:/ What pangs excruciating must molest,/ What sorrows labor in my parent’s breast?" (Norton 404, Ln. 24-27), Wheatley expertly utilizes pathos in an effort to sway Earl William’s support in favor of her anti-slavery initiative. By...