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Rhetorical Analysis On The Boston Massacre

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John Hancock spoke of the Boston Massacre on the fourth anniversary of the 1770 attack and the American colonists who lost their lives due to the violence brought upon by the British. This massacre sparked a new revolution in the colonies as they fought to get the justice that they deserved. Through the use of rhetorical strategies, John Hancock warns his fellow colonists about British attacks on Americans by utilizing figurative language and emotive language to show the urgency of staying firm in defense of their lives and rights as he persuades them to rebel because of the injustices they’ve endured.
John Hancock reflected on the prior attack that happened in Boston as he uses metaphors, imagery, and negatively charged adjectives to demonstrate …show more content…

Hancock described the way the colonists felt as a result of the attacks on that “dismal night” and explains that they felt surreal amounts of “rage” and “astonishment” as they were left to “grie[ve]” the deaths of their fellow colonists. The emotions felt by the colonies are expressed through the description by John Hancock during his speech. He conveys the anger and shock that the colonists felt because of the Boston Massacre on the four-year commemoration of the attack on the colonist’s rights. Hancock encourages the colonists to take action to get justice for those Americans killed as he explains that they must “sacrifice [them]selves for the salvation of [their] country” without being afraid because “death is a creature of a poltroon’s brain.” John Hancock attempts to persuade his fellow colonists to protect their liberties and colonies by fighting back and getting justice for their colonies and the colonists who were killed in 1770. He explains to the colonists that they must make a sacrifice to protect their future because they should not fear death since it is for the well-being of the colonies. John Hancock implements emotionally charged language to express the colonists’ feelings during the fourth anniversary of the Boston Massacre as he tries to persuade his fellow colonists to fight back for their

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Well-known orator and attorney, Patrick Henry, in his speech, “Speech in the Virginia Convention” (1775), asserts that Americans must fight for their independence against Britain. Henry’s purpose is to take a stand against the British government. He adopts an acrimonious tone in order to call influential Virginian landowners to action and persuade them to advocate the revolution. Henry appeals to emotions through the use of syntax in order to emphasize the British government’s refusal to acquiesce with the colonists’ requests. For instance, Henry begins his speech by asking if Great Britain has an “enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies” not to receive an answer, but to indicate that the

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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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The first literary device that he uses to persuade the colonists to go into war are metaphors to help the colonists imagine what Britain makes them go through and how they are treating them. The first metaphor that he uses is, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be [purchased] at the price of chains and slavery” (par. 5)? This metaphor shows the comparison between people being purchased with chains of oppression at the cost of the colonist’s livelihood. One simply cannot take someone’s peace and life for the price of chains and slavery.

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In the speech “Speech in the Virginia Convention” (1775), Patrick Henry, one of the most powerful orators of the American Revolution, and an important political leader of that era, argues that “If [the American colonists] wish to be free… [they] must fight!” and that it is in vain to try for peace with the British. Henry proves the need for war by predicting the future using examples from the past (“I know no way of judging the future but by the past), by asking emotionally charged rhetorical questions (“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?”), and by countering the claim that there is a need for peace (“Gentleman may cry, ‘Peace, Peace!’-but there is no peace. The war is actually begun!”).

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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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Jahnessa Hernandez Mrs. Shepard Junior English, 6 17 February 2023 Rhetorical Analysis Patrick Henry’s speech given at the Virginia Convention is the most well-known in American History. In his speech, Henry is trying to make the colonists see it is time to rebel against British rule. In the speech “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death”, By Patrick Henry uses appeals and literary devices to strengthen the message that it is time for the colonists to stand up to the British Tyrant. While under British control the colonists had no freedom and were comparable to slaves. While Mr. Henry is giving his speech he made it clear that “[He] [considered] it nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery”.

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Synopsis: In this speech the author, Patrick Henry, expresses his idea of how bad he desired to become independent from Great Britain and its king who treated the people from the 13 colonies with unfair acts which included the Intolerable Acts which was an aftermath to punish the colonies for the “Boston Tea Party,” a movement of protesting against other taxes imposed by the king where the Founding Fathers dumped about $1,000,000 worth of tea. On the first paragraph, Henry is speaking about how much he thinks

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Patrick Henry talks about how much freedom the king revokes from the colonists. While talking about the freedom that constantly gets torn away from the colonists he states, ¨…by lying on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot¨(Henry 103). Henry compares the sensation of feeling restrained to what the king does to the colonists to persuade the reader into thinking that the colonists have no choice but to free themselves. Patrick Henry also talks about how the conditions the colonists remain in have gotten bad enough that war must act as the solution. While Patrick Henry talks about the treacherous actions of the king he states, ¨There is no retreat but in submission and slavery!¨ (Henry 103).

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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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Near the end of British control, the American colonists got angry about what was happening in their country and start to spread the idea of self-rule. In 1775, Patrick Henry gave the “Speech in the Virginia Convention” to persuade the representatives to prepare for the impending war with the British and fight for independence. One reason Patrick Henry wants to persuade them into to following him is to prepare for war. He wishes to convince them to prepare for the incoming “storm” which they have been doing “everything that could be done” to avoid the “storm”. He is trying to convince the delegates that the option of war is impossible to hold off any longer and will not wait for the colonists to be ready.

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The Boston Massacre is an event most Americans and British students learn about over the course of their education. In America, we learn that British soldiers fired upon innocent civilians, although this may not have been the case. British historians have referred to the Boston Massacre as the "Incident on King Street". After looking over the "Captain Thomas Preston 's Account of the Boston Massacre", as well as "Boston Massacre Trial Depositions" I believe that American historians should refer to the "Boston Massacre" as the "Incident on King Street". The definition of a massacre refers to an unnecessary and random killing of a large number of individuals.

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The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a “patriot”. They were throwing sticks, snowballs, and trash at a group of British troops. The loyalists got very annoyed with the patriots so they shot into the mob killing five. The riot began when around 50 colonists attacked a British sentinel. A British officer called in for additional troops

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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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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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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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