Compare And Contrast Call To Rebellion And Patrick Henry

1870 Words8 Pages

Karina Walter
Ms. Stout
Advanced English 10
October 2, 2014
Similar Rhetoric and Theme in “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” and “The Call to Rebellion” Despite Differences in Context The contexts, mediums, genres, and topics of two situations will always differ in some way. However, the ways individuals handle these situations might be quite similar and produce similar, and often successful, outcomes. To obtain these outcomes, an individual must use language effectively to persuade his or her audience. Patrick Henry and Henry Highland Garnet, despite speaking in different situations, both use language to their advantage. Because they have equivalent goals of freedom, the language that they use is also very similar. These superb orators both use logos, pathos, tone, …show more content…

Patrick Henry was a free white man, while Henry Highland Garnet was an escaped slave. Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” was given in 1775. At this time, England was oppressing the Americans with the Stamp Act (“Patrick Henry”). On the other hand, Garnet gave his speech, “The Call to Rebellion,” when the issue of slavery was very prominent in 1843 (“Henry Highland Garnet”). Because Henry and Garnet were both shaped by their times and issues, they chose to write about and for these issues. This makes their topics and audiences seem very different. Henry’s audience was the second Virginia Convention of Delegates. He tried to persuade them to defend themselves and prepare to fight against the English. Garnet, an escaped slave himself, spoke to the National Negro Convention to make the slaves revolt against their white masters. These audiences seem very different because they are in separate contexts. By studying the differences in solely the context of these two speeches, the speeches themselves appear to be very