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Rhetorical Devices In Patrick Henry's Speech

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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. Henry’s use of ethical appeal, logical and emotional appeals, as well as rhetorical devices, touched the audience. His persuasive techniques were the reason behind his exceptionally successful speech. The patriot strongly believed that the colonization of the British was a deadly virus that spread across the nation, killing the freedom of Americans. His goal was to stimulate action against the British forces by persuading the residents of Virginia that the only way to …show more content…

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. 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. As it build momentum, it also establishes the idea in the listener’s mind. This easily makes the listener accept 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 purpose of Patrick Henry’s Speech to the Virginia convention was to convince his fellow delegates to fight for their freedom. Henry uses the rhetorical devices of repetition and pathos to effectively get his point across. Henry uses the rhetorical device of repetition through repeatedly referring to the choice of freedom or slavery. He says this more than one time to try and get his point across the the delegates that he is talking to. He believes that american should be free and if we do not become free soon that the british are going to start to treat us like slaves.

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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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Through the use of diction, Henry appeals to the senses by making logical connections for the audience and by appealing to the audiences credibility. By doing this he the audience receives his message better because Henry captivates their attention. Henry utilizes figurative language in order to instill a sense of urgency in the audience. He wants the audience to also believe that a war with Great Britain is necessary. Henry connects the audience with their religion through rhetorical devices, such as allusions.

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The Fuel To Our Fire Man can be created to read poems; but not every man has the ability to write them. On the other hand, Patrick Henry was extremely profound at sparking up the American Revolution. With Britain oppressing the rights of the colonists, Henry knew it was time to retaliate. At this time, the people were extremely content with their daily life, therefore they chose to stand by and do nothing about the problems the British caused. This was, of course, until Henry came out and impacted the people with his famous speech, “Speech To The Virginia Convention”.

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I believe the arguments posited by Patrick Henry, and Thomas Paine are both effective. In Patrick Henry's “Speech to the Virginia Convention” this speech was remembered popularly as the “Give Me Liberty or Give me Death” speech. Henry begins the speech by addressing the men who spoke for him that day.

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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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He was able to motivate through the use of rhetorical questions, a strong emotional appeal, and speaks directly to the audience in 1st person to influence their opinions personally. One of the main goals of the speech was to bring a sense of nationalism into the colonists through fear of what would happen if the British had control of America. Henry uses first person to bring a sense of mutual bonding to show that he is one of them and wants to help be a part of a movement which drew the people towards him. He encourages the fight by saying “we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight!”.

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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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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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He forces the audience to accept what he is saying as the truth. “We must fight!” a short exclamatory sentence which creates a sense of urgency into the audience. As the speech reaches its climax, and the excitement and energy that Henry has placed into the audience, they are now convinced and ready to charge into battle against the British. Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention” was a call to arms to the colonist against the British during the 1700’s.

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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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I repeat it sir, let it come.” The main point of the speech is that the colonists must go to war to protect their own freedom. He is saying that there is only way to the war and they should follow that path. Another way patrick henry uses rhetorical question in his speech is his use of ethos. Partick believes strong in his country and states, “... but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”.

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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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Henry tries to show the audience a different viewpoint, rather than discrediting their own. During his speech, Henry made biblical references such as “ Different men often see the same subject

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