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Literary Devices Used In Patrick Henry's Speech

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Patrick Henry Argument Analysis Throughout Patrick Henry’s speech, he uses many literary devices to convey his thought and opinions to his audience, and with it, he hopes to alter or sway their views on the subject matter. Starting from the very end of Henry's speech, he states “but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”, this now infamous line uses the logical fallacy of false dilemma. This fallacy, also known as either/or, plays to his advantage as it makes the problem seem greater than it actually is by only presenting two extreme options, liberty or death. Another literary device Henry uses in his speech, is ethos, which appeals to the audience's moral or ethical plane. He does this by addressing God, ergo an appeal to his religious portion of the audience, on multiple occasions. Such instances of this occur in …show more content…

Also miked in paragraph eleven, he uses repetition when deliberating rhetorical questions (yet another literary device that persuades via asking questions with an obvious answer to emphasize a point) directed at the audience in a show of his reasoning. Those rhetorical and repetitive phrases being, “ Will it be next week? Will it be when we are totally disarmed…? Shall we gather strength… Shall we acquire the means?...”, helping to shove what should be evident, in the viewer's faces. With the same purpose of persuasion, the literary device logos is used as a solely logical and factual form of enticement or argumentation, especially in paragraph 13. He uses this “fact of the matter” when he states that the colonies were a force to be reckoned with, “three millions of people, armed with the holy cause of liberty” to be exact. As has been noted all throughout Patrick Henry’s speech, he uses many devices and fallacies to inform his audience of the facts, explain what said facts mean for the country and people, and to persuade and alert their viewpoints; all of this is done magnificently and famously in his “Give Me

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At the Virginia convention in 1774, the delegates such as Patrick Henry, gather to decide their course of action, in a time where their primary goal was to rid themselves of their oppressor, Great Britain. Patrick Henry addresses the other delegates and discloses his opinion on what course of action the people should take. In his speech at the Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry forcefully influences the audience to go to war with Great Britain through diction, figurative language and rhetorical devices and by confronting them with their current position of danger in the face of the inevitable British Invasion. Patrick Henry emphasizes his opinion of the necessary war by using diction such as ethos and logos, through appeals to their senses that make connections for the audience. Through Henry’s repetitive utilization of ethos

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On March 23, 1775, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” was heard all throughout St. John 's Church. These famous words were not only a great speaker looking to have his voice heard, but they would have an everlasting impact on young English students studying the use of ethos, logos, and pathos. Patrick Henry also used figurative languages such as allusions, parallelism, and biblical references to bring his speech to life. In this specific piece of literature, qualities like independence and individualism are exceedingly prominent, this all being due to Henry’s use of literary devices. Conversely, in the very first sentence, Henry uses ethos to articulate how he is patriotic to his home, but he occupies diverse views than his audience, the Virginia

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Persuasion is the act of convincing an individual or a group of people to go toward a specific cause. In Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech, one sees many of the rhetorical techniques Patrick Henry utilized to convey his message. Henry’s development of allusions, repetition, and emotional appeals evoked the members of the Virginia Convention to revolt against the British monarchy. Allusions were a major component in Patrick Henry’s speech that helped get his idea of revolting across to his audience. The colonists were frustrated with the British during this time, and Henry felt as if they were “betrayed by a kiss.”

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Patrick Henry’s claim in his speech to the Virginia Convention is war with England is the only way to win freedom and their desires because England makes this the only choice. Before Patrick went up there were other men that had spoken before him, these men were speaking their views on whether or not they should initialize the war. Once Patrick has his chance to say his part he believes that they should fight because England hasn’t been fair. Patrick states this basically by saying “An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us”. This is such a powerful statement because what he’s proposing is extremely dangerous.

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Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication?" He's making them think about everything they've done in the past that hasn't worked. Another example of logos is "Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrance have produced additional violence insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. There is no longer any room for hope. " Henry is telling us that the British have been unresponsive to anything but armed resistance.

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Henry also uses repetition, in order to create emphasis. It reinforces the purpose of the speech and the speaker’s main arguments. Here, Henry states, “We must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight!” This exhibits the speaker’s inflammatory language, which calls for action, provokes anger, and triggers strong emotions.

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Finally, he also uses logos to show logical appeal towards the audience. Patrick henry says "shall we try arguments" talking about and thinking about everything they have done in the past that hasnt worked. Henry say the British will betray the colonists, telling the audience you can't trust the British that why we shall fight. Give me liberty or give me death is a way of him saying and showing he will get peace one way or another, but if the people dont agree with him then there is no hope for freedom so give him

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On March 23, 1775, Mr. Patrick Henry made history when he delivered a speech at the Virginia Convention. Mr. Henry's purpose in his speech was to convince the Virginia patriots attending the convention that the only option with Britain remaining was war. Mr. Henry used many rhetorical devices throughout his speech, and with the use of pathos, ethos, and logos he had an effective advantage that appealed to almost every person at the convention. To begin with, Mr. Henry’s speech contains much use of pathos as he relates to the emotions of the people of Virginia. An example of Mr. Henry's use of pathos is when he states, “I consider it as nothing less than freedom or slavery...”.

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Rhetorical Analysis Convincing people of something or to do something is not an easy task but Patrick Henry's “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention” shows how well someone can persuade people when they trust you, appeal to their emotions, or back up what you are saying with facts...ethos, pathos, and logos. The purpose of this speech is to persuade the colonist to fight against the british. Patrick is talking to the members of the virginia convention and what they need to do to become free. Patrick Henry uses ethos to help convince the audience that he knows what he's talking about and how they should trust him.

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In the “Speech to the Virginia Convention” given by Patrick Henry to the President in 1775, asserts that the colonists should not be trying to negotiate with the British. His purpose was to convince the audience that they should not be trying to befriend the people of Great Britain rather that they should make Great Britain their foe. Henry uses his speech to appeal to both the President and the colonist through the use of figurative language, tone, and syntax. Patrick Henry’s use of diction, a persuasive and forceful tone, appeal to ethos and pathos, as well as various syntactical elements in his “Speech to the Virginia Convention” shows that the colonists should be fighting to break away from the British monarchy rather than negotiate terms to try and stay under their clutches.

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He was describing the Parliament as a tyrant who want everything it's under control. An example of repetition is “The war is inevitable -- and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.” Patrick Henry worded multiple times that the war was unavoidable.

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756 Words | 4 Pages

Drawing upon his established ethos, Henry alludes to the Bible, implying that if the Convention ignored him they would face destruction. Henry develops this idea of destruction throughout his speech, creating an emotional sense of fear and urgency around his argument with words such as “snare,” “war and subjugation,” “chains,” and “tyrannical.” Despite this heavy pathos throughout his speech, Henry also incudes logic, speaking of how he must judge the future by the past, and for that reason can only find proof that Britain will continue to mistreat the Colonies. He additionally utilizes logos through recounting all the acts they have tried so far, which had all been in vain, as well as through a series of “if… then” statements, such as “if we wish to be free… [then] we must

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Henry’s Method for Achieving His Purpose In the speech Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death, Patrick Henry uses allusion, symbolism, juxtaposition, and rhetorical questions to achieve his purpose. Henry’s purpose is to convince the Loyalists of his cause, which this speech does effectively. Because he used strong rhetorical devices, his language really clarified his points in why the Loyalists should commit treason and join the war, effectively convincing them to join the revolution.

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In Patrick henry’s Speech at the Virginia Convention, he sought to get his opinion across to the colonists. In this speech Patrick Henry tries to persuade the colonists to declare war against the British. Patrick Henry uses appeals of shared values, facts and data, and figurative language to entice the colonists to join the fight for independence. Patrick Henry uses appeals to shared values in order to address the colonists that they all share the same mission. For example, Henry claims “But different men often see the same subject in different lights.”

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On March 23, 1775 “ Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” was heard all throughout St. John's Church. These famous words were not only the use of a great speaker looking to have his voice heard, but they would have an everlasting impact on young English students studying the use of ethos, logos, and pathos. Patrick Henry used not only these rhetorical devices but also allusions, parallelism, and biblical references to bring his speech to life. In the very first sentence, Henry uses ethos to state how he is patriotic to his home

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