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Patrick Henry Rhetorical Strategies Essay

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The Rhetorical Strategy of a Powerful Argument Patrick Henry’s “Speech of the Virginia Convention” had many interesting rhetorical strategies. The ones that were most notable was diction, logs appeal, allusion, and imagery. The “Speech of the Virginia Convention” was a strong argument to convince the patriots, loyalist, and the colonist for freedom. Patrick Henry only wanted the best for his fellow americans and for him. His “Speech of the Virginia Convention” led the argument to war with the british. Through diction he showed the audience a powerful argument with an extraordinary quotes, “is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty”. In this quote he argues for liberty not just for him although additionally for his fellow americans. Observing into the first quote and a part of the second quote it says “arduous struggle for …show more content…

For this quote which shows such a huge meaning of imagery “we are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth”. The meaning for this quote is when the most hurtful moments of our life is when we're weaker than ever. The second quote is “shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot.”. This quote means that once the people are hurt there's no going back and they have to watch for each other back. The rhetorical strategy, imagery, establish to show that what life has for us and that there's always way to conquer them. Patrick Henry had the four Rhetorical Strategy to show the power of his argument to fight the England. The England may have had a bigger army but they didn’t give up what they had believed for freedom and to be with their families. Patrick Henry had a goal with the “Speech of the Virginia Convention” that he conquered to make it

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Under the control of the British Parliament in 1775, the American colonies consider going to war in order to gain independence from Britain. In “Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention,” Henry addresses the need for American colonists to work together to stop the British from controlling them. Thus, Henry’s periodic sentence, rhetorical questions, antithesis, and anaphora successfully convince the American colonists to unite against the British and to bring awareness to their wrongdoings. Firstly, Henry applies periodic sentences and rhetorical questions to convey the idea that the American Colonists must fight back against the British by working together if they want to gain freedom. Henry believes that “if [they] wish to

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Lawyer and politician, Patrick Henry in his speech, “Give me Liberty Or Give Me Death” (March 23, 1775), explains that he give this plea to urge the old dominion to form militias to defend itself against British. He supports his claim by first using a religious reference to express the themes of freedom, equality, and independence. Then uses a selection of other strategies like rhetorical question and allusion to disprove the opposing arguments and clarify the point he is making. Patrick Henry purpose is to fight back and he wants other to fight with him in order for independence. He creates a powerful and commanding tone for the second Virginia convention.

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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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345 Words | 2 Pages

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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Benjamin Franklin and Patrick Henry were two important people in American History who made a difference. Franklin’s “Speech in the Convention and Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention” helped guide our nation to independence and democracy. Both speeches have good examples of rhetorical devices, but I think Patrick Henry speech ‘Speech in the Virginia Convention” has better rhetorical devices. Some examples are rhetorical question, logos, diction, and imagery. Patrick Henry style and content is more effective then Benjamin Franklin because Patrick uses a plethora of things such as imagery, “There is no retreat but in submission and slavery!

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Speech of the Great The Revolutionary War a time of conflict and persuasion, trying to change the outcome Partick Henry writes the “Speech to The Virginia Convention”. Right before the Revolutionary War in the year 1775 Patrick Henry wrote a speech to the president to try and persuade to go to war but to do it in the right way. Henry uses ethos to hit the president’s emotion by talking about how in the past British hasn’t always had their side and they could easily play them, he also uses ethos by using analogies on what the outcome could be. It’s important for Patrick Henry to persuade the colonist to go to war because he wants them to realize that British isn’t always going to be on our side.

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His choice of language is effective at evoking emotion. Through rhetorical questions, Henry was able to emphasize his points, and grab the audience’s attention, creating an emotional effect on the listeners. “Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?” These statements prove the speaker’s argument and stir the audience’s emotions.

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Patrick henry uses rhetorical appeals by using God to persuade memebers of the virginia convention to go to war with Britian. He uses pathos, logos, and ethos because he appeasl to peoples emotions and how they feel about going to war with Britain. Henry is a person who fights to get what he wants. He's a man that believes fighting is the only way of getting freedom. Henry is a credible speaker because of this he gets some to agree with him on going to war with Britain, and some still disagree becasue some say they are not ready, they are weak.

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691 Words | 3 Pages

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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701 Words | 3 Pages

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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689 Words | 3 Pages

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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756 Words | 4 Pages

In 1775 the American Colonies stood at a tipping point. Britain and the Colonies had been embroiled in a continuing struggle over numerous injustices, and the Colonies seemed at long last situated to engage in a revolution against Britain. However, the colonial representatives were still tied up in negotiations with Britain, and many delegates of the Virginia Convention wanted to delay actions until the negotiations had concluded. Patrick Henry disagreed with the delay, so he addressed the Convention, arguing for the need to mobilize troops against the British, a request tantamount to treason. Instead of shying away from the polarizing nature of his argument, Henry adopted a respectful, but urgent, tone, crafting an argument that would inspire his audience into action.

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442 Words | 2 Pages

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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On March 23,1775 Patrick Henry convinced colonists to fight against Britain by using four rhetorical devices which were allusion, imagery, one-word sentences and rhetorical questions. He did this by reading his famous speech called “the Virgina Convention speech”. These four devices helped Patrick Henry convinced many people that were still not willing to go to war. Patrick Henry purpose for using allusion was to helped him connect with the listeners. “Listen to the song of the siren till she transforms us into beast.”

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