| A | B |
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| n. the native language or dialect of a country or region; everday or informal language; adj. using everyday language | Douglass's formal, dignified language, which seems more eloquent than the common vernacular, makes him an especially effective speaker. |
| n. a beginning; a start of something | Douglas convinced his listerners that, since its inception, that is, since its beginning in the dignity of all human beings. His unshakeable commitment to freedom for all peoples persuades many of the audience members to change their own views. |
| adj. stimulating; pushing or tending toward action, thought, or strong feeling | Douglass's provocative speech roused the crowd to anger against slaveholders. |
| v. to emphasize; to heighten the effect of; to pronounce or mark with an accent; to highlight | Douglass's clear, powerful language served to accentuate his descriptions of the horrors of slavery. |
| n. condition or state of being complex, involved, or detailed; elaborateness | The intricacy of his argument is even more impressive when you consider that Douglass had no formal education. |
| adj. given to examination of one's own thoughts and feelings; contemplative | While listening, you wondered how such a sensitive, introspective person could speak out so strongly and effectively. |
| adj. well chosen for the occasion; appropriate; apt; having an agreeable or delightful manner of writing or speaking | It's 1841, and you're attending an antislavery convention in Massachusetts. You have jest been impressed by Frederick Douglass's felicitous and timely speech on the subject of slavery. |
| adj. not capable of being conquered, overcome, or captured; unshakeable (as in a belief) | Everyone in the room was moved by Douglass's impregnable belief in the dignity of all human beings. His unshakeable commitment to freedom for all peoples persuades many of the audience members to change their own views. |
| adj. of wide scope; inclusive; thorough | You believe that Douglass should give many more speeches. Why not launch a comprehensive lecture campaign to reach audiences throughout the North? |
| adj. having more than one possible meaning; uncertain; vague or unclear | Douglass has ambiguous feelings about the idea, but he is clearly willing to give the plan a try. |
