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Patrick Henry Speech Rhetorical Devices

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In this speech, the speaker is Patrick Henry. He was a lawyer, politician, and planter from the United States. He was one of the founding fathers who had served in Virginia's first and sixth post-colonial governorships, from 1776 to 1779 and 1784 to 1786, consecutively. We know that he gave his speech, "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death," on March 23, 1775, at the Second Virginia Convention. Henry's purpose of this speech is to persuade and inform civilizations that it is time to rebel and take a stand against British rule. He also hoped to inspire the American nation to stand up and seek freedom during the American Revolution. Patrick Henry was giving a speech to 120 representatives at the VA Conference, some of those who were in attendance …show more content…

He is also using an extensive metaphor of enslavement. Patrick uses association, logical, and emotional appeals during his speech at the conference. Patrick Henry’s speech has a compelling, clear, and serious tone. He uses these rhetorical choices to communicate the themes of freedom, independence, and equality. All throughout Henry's speech, he has shown passion and energy to begin a war against Britain. He has an urgent attitude, as he knows this needs to get done, and is trying to convince them to think the same. He uses ethos, pathos, and logos in his speech. With his well-known final line, "... give me liberty or give me death,” (Patrick Henry) Henry demonstrates the urgency of the situation and further establishes his authority. The delegates were motivated by the use of pathos. "The question before the House is a terrible moment for this nation. For my part, I see it as essentially a choice between freedom and enslavement” (Patrick Henry); According to Patrick Henry, they will either become free people or slaves. Patrick Henry uses logos to support his claim and his position in favor of war. "What terms shall we find which have not already been exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on." (Patrick Henry) He also uses the rhetorical question “And what have we to oppose to

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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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1045 Words | 5 Pages

March of 1775 was a day of persuasion for steps towards freedom. A former governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry wrote the speech “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” in response to British conflict and wanting to peacefully approach it with a reasonable effort. The British were enforcing more soldiers into the colonies and the Americans wanted their liberty. Henry advocated for the colonist to fight if their circumstances were not met with the British. Being a former governor, Henry had the knowledge of how the government system worked and was a figure who was looked up to in the state of Virginia.

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766 Words | 4 Pages

He was asking for help to revolt against England. At the time, he sought for freedom of the state. Patrick Henry was trying to convince Virginia that the what they have done to achieve peace had not been working and will not work, or will never work. So, he stokes a stand and was ready to fight against it. This speech is important for our next future generations because it shows them that if they want something done that they have to fight for it, and it also shows them not to give up on what they believe in because they can make a change just like the historical figures I just talked about.

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For example, Henry says "I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery..." The thoughts and emotions connected with the word slavery bring many things to mind. Like do you want to be under "slavery" for Britain forever to never be free or fight to have

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800 Words | 4 Pages

Patrick Henry, former governor of Virginia, bravely spoke on the 23rd of March, 1775, at St. John’s Church, introducing his strategies to end the American Revolution in victory. The speech was so inspiring that it ignited a massive flame of patriotism. Americans began to greatly support his political ideology. Due to his stirring choice of words, the phrase “Give me liberty, or give me death!” impacted the listeners, making his remarkable words yet known to this date.

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459 Words | 2 Pages

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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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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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

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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485 Words | 2 Pages

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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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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500 Words | 2 Pages

I believe in the speech Patrick Henry reached ehis goal from the help use of his rhetorical techniques he uses throughout his speech. Authors that use many different kinds of rhetorical techniques often have a better speeches and prove their point with more evidence and well written thought out information. Patrick henry uses metaphor, logos, ethos, to persuade the Virginia lawmakers and citizens to go to war. Throughout his speech henry uses metaphors into his reading to convince his audience.

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460 Words | 2 Pages

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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1000 Words | 4 Pages

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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