Rhetorical Devices In Speech In The Virginia Convention

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Just because someone does not start conflict does not make them incapable of resolving it. In Speech in the Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry expresses his opinion on how the colonists did not cause the war, but since the war remains inevitable they must join the fight with a positive attitude. Patrick Henry also aspires for the reader to understand how terrible the treatment of the colonists remains. To add to that, Patrick Henry desires for the reader to acknowledge the fact that the cause of the war does not fall in the colonists’ hands. Throughout Speech in the Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry uses repetition, ethical appeal, and metaphors to display the theme to the reader that when conflict appears inevitable, having a positive attitude …show more content…

Patrick Henry talks about the king´s intolerable rules for the colonists and how they should no longer withstand them. While talking about a few of the unjust conditions that make the war inevitable, he states, ¨…and let it come! I repeat it, let it come!¨ (Henry 103). In this example of repetition, Henry persuades the colonists to accept the war with a welcoming attitude. Also throughout the story Henry also repeats the importance of how the colonists need to come together for war to have their greatest potential strength. Henry repeats this idea to the reader to persuade the reader into believing that they all need each other to have any chance of beating the king in the inevitable war. In conclusion, Patrick Henry uses repetition to persuade the reader into believing the colonists do not remain responsible for the war, but they need to come together and fight in the war as a …show more content…

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). This metaphor conveys to the reader how the colonists´ situation appears similar to slavery; which persuades the reader into believing that the cause of the war remains England's fault. In conclusion, Patrick Henry uses metaphors to persuade the reader into realizing how England has left the colonists with no choice, but