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Rhetorical Analysis: Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death

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Li 1 William Li Mr. McMurtry AP Lang & Comp, Gold 5 29 September 2014 Rhetorical Analysis: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death Exordium: First Paragraph Introduction Show respects to opponents Narratio: Second Paragraph Rhetorical questions metaphors to invoke audience rethinking about their position stating facts Partitio: The end of second paragraph POV Confirmatio: Third Paragraph Refutatio: Fourth Paragraph Peroratio: Fifth Paragraph On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry is addressing the Virginia Convention, specifically President Peyton Randolph. He offers a solution to the patriots of Virginia to form a local militia in order to be ready to fight the British. Carrying a passionate and pleading tone, Henry urges to persuade the patriots …show more content…

1). Henry claims there is only two ways: it is either fighting or slavery/British rule. This is an appeal to pathos because he attempts to use it to create anger and purposely upset them with the idea of slavery. This idea is carried on further in the paragraph, "Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received?" (par. 3). He says that the colonists ' petition has been received with "an insidious smile". The use of the words "insidious smile" creates an emotional appeal, because it fools the patriots into trusting that the British would take care of their petitions (which they never would), but it really is a set-up to enslave the colonists and keep them under its rules. He also references biblical allusion to create a metaphor between the positive reception of their petitions and the kiss which Judas gave to Jesus before his betrayal. The kiss, appearing to be something affectionate and positive, is, in fact, what eventually causes Jesus ' death. With the uses of the allusion/metaphor, Henry wants to reveal the British pretentious mask, that the British will NOT consider their benefits and ultimately lead to their enslavement and betrayal. The image of imprisonment creates fear and rebellion among the colonists and motivates them to think that Henry 's claim is more

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Additionally, Henry asserts that “[they] have petitioned; [they] have remonstrated; [they] have supplicated; [they] have prostrated [themselves] before the throne” to “avert the storm” of the upcoming war. Henry’s appliance of anaphora with “we” at the beginning of subsequent clauses emphasizes that the colonists have done much to avoid any violent outcome with the British. He notes that the colonists are trying to resolve problems while Britain is only “produc[ing] additional violence and insult.” Hence, Henry underscores Britain’s neglect of possible solutions and their inclination for violence. In essence, Henry’s clever use of various rhetorical strategies persuades the colonies to achieve their freedom from Britain.

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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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In Patrick Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention,” Henry uses persuasive techniques such as repetition and rhetorical questions to interrogate the motives of the British and to reason why the colonies should declare their independence despite the consequences. In Henry’s speech, he uses repetition to address that war is inevitable to show how they must fight in order to achieve their goals as a nation and to prove that the colonists will not be alone over the course of the battle. In Henry’s speech he includes, “The war is inevitable—and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!” By this quote, Henry is saying that the colonists have already gone so far and worked so hard to give up now.

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Henry continues by emotionally describing how he is ready to endure any pain that will come his way from finally learning the truth. He feels he is ready to stand up and be change that must come from the colonies, despite any despair he might face. 2. “There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged!

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Which is the action that set the leaders of Virginia off and ultimately led to the consideration of a militia. In Henry’s speech, he is saying that these actions show that the British have no intention of finding a peaceful resolution. Henry professed that he, “wish[es] to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House” (Henry 1). He is pointing out that the men he is addressing have no reason to think that anything will change with the British unless force is used and that they are only keeping their stances up to protect themselves. While rebellions are hard to start and even harder to keep going Henry does an excellent job at coaxing the members of the Virginia convention to his side through his speech.

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But they put themselves in a level with wood and earth and stones [...] than men of straw or a lump of dirt’’. Henry’s ethos shows the audience of his strategy of going against the government corruption. Henry’s speech was well-planned out to shows his audience of his experience when rebelling the government; in addition, receiving forced punishment for not paying his poll-tax. He thought out things that made himself to commit this disobedience against the government and wanted to express his experience of his ideas and strategy to disobey the government.

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On January 6th, 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his eighth State of the Union address to Congress, known as the speech of the “Four Freedoms.” The purpose of this speech was to persuade Americans to shift their attention from the Axis threat to the British and allied troops in desperate need of support. During the time of this address, America was in a great state of isolationism. The majority of Americans sought to disassociate themselves from any foreign ties, including wars. “Policies to curb immigration quotas and increase tariffs on imported goods were implemented, and a series of Neutrality Acts passed in the 1930’s limited American arms and munitions assistance abroad” (“The Four Freedoms”1).

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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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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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Henry believed the only solution left was to go to war with Britain. So he gives a speech to the Virginia Convention to plead his cause. In his speech he uses many different examples of ethos, pathos, and logos. To begin with, pathos is appealing with the audience’s emotions. An emotional appeal evokes anger, laughter, sadness, fear, joy, pride, and etc.

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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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To begin with, Patrick henry uses pathos to appeal to the audience's emotions, and feelings of going to war with Britain. For example, he says "i consider it nothing less than a question of freedom and slavery." He connects with the emotions and thoughts of being a slave. The audience doesn't agree with his decision, even though he does appeal to the

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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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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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but he has different views than his audience, the Virginia Convention, does. Throughout the speech, Henry uses words like “we” and “ourselves” to show that he is still with the audience, and not against them. Henry continues on in that same paragraph by using pathos. When he said, "Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself guilty of treason towards my own country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings. " He is saying that this is what he needs to do for his God.

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