see sample answer below

a) The claim that shapes Douglass’s speech is that African Americans do not have the same rights as white people in the United States.
b) He produces this claim right away, in the first paragraph of his speech.

see sample answer below

a) The United States should not celebrate independence until everyone in the US is free, and African Americans are not.
b) He has shown most of the evidence up to that point, he has shown that God would not want this and that African Americans were not truly free and independent.

see sample answer below

a) In paragraph 5, Douglass acknowledges a counterclaim to his argument. The counterclaim is “It is just in this circumstance that you and your brother abolitionists fail to make a favorable impression on the public mind. Would you argue more, and denounce less; would you persuade more, and rebuke less; your cause would be much more likely to succeed” (Douglass, paragraph 5).
b) Douglass refutes this claim in the same paragraph when he says that “Must I undertake to prove that the slave is a man?” and then he says that this question is already refuted, already agreed upon.

see sample answer below

Most effective argumentative structure: to motivate the audience to take action.
– Douglass’s harsh word, and vivid imagery.
Second most effective structure used: to persuade the audience to accept an idea.
– he wants people to see that the US is not free yet.
3rd most effective structure used: to change the audience’s mind about an issue
– His audience already agreed with him.