“Give me liberty or give me death!” (72). These are the famous words Patrick Henry delivered to the delegates of Virginia in 1775. As times of war were quickly approaching the colonies, Henry gave this speech to the Virginia Convention, urging the delegates to fight against Britain. These passionate words continue to ring over the United States today, now a free nation partially due to his patriotic speech. How was Henry able to persuade the delegates on such a controversial topic at the time? With the use of repetition, metaphors, and rhetorical questions, Henry is able to create the persuasive piece of literature, Speech in the Virginia Convention, that not only changed the views of the delegates in 1775, but changed the future of America. Repetition is often used in oral literature to emphasize key or important points. Since this piece was originally spoken as a speech to the delegates, Henry uses repetition throughout it. His most obvious use of repetition is when he states “we must fight! I repeat is, sir, we must fight!” (72). This not only emphasizes his main point of the speech, but …show more content…
Henry uses multiple metaphors in his speech to show that he is an intelligent and well educated man, therefore, his opinion should be held to a higher standard. For example, he uses the metaphors “I have one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience,” and the metaphor about “listening to the song of that siren,” to show that he is an educated man with a valuable opinion (71). Henry uses metaphors in other ways too, such as the metaphor “we have done everything to avert the oncoming storm,” (72). This metaphor is used to show the ferocity of Britain by comparing it to a storm. Henry uses this to convince delegates that a war with Britain is unavoidable, and that they might as well fight in it. Henry uses a similar metaphor of “hugging the delusive phantom of hope,” to convey the same message
In the “Speech at the Virginia Convention” Patrick Henry tries to persuade colonists to fight a war against the English; he uses several main rhetorical strategies such as; parallelism, metaphor, and rhetorical questions.
Henry uses logos to appeal the colonists. An example of this is, “Has Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world, to call for this accumulation of navies and armies… it is meant for us.” This appeals to the colonists because it logical, why else would Britain have their military over here? Henry make it seem like there is only one logical answer. Henry uses rhetorical
Henry’s speech to Virginia uses several tactics to get your attention; the stress at the time was overwhelming as the pressure from Britain to dissemble and succumb intensified. “It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfil the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country.” His intention behind involving God and religion
Patrick Henry communicates the idea of love and agreement which brings to attention the love God has for the world and His purpose of integrating man to Himself, because of that devotion of love. To begin with, Mr. Henry initially could have stated that some ignored the problem with hope of it vanishing. However, He states “having eyes, see not and, having ears, hear not”. Jesus frequently said “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” To move on...
There are few speeches in the American history that compel us towards great acts of patriotism. Patrick Henry's speech in the Virginia Provincial Convention of 1775 is a prime example of one of these great speeches. During the debates on whether or not to compromise with Great Britain, Patrick Henry proposed the idea to his fellow members of the First Continental Congress to declare war on Great Britain. A reason why the speech was so powerful was the rhetorical strategies of the diction of slavery, the appeal to God, and the appeal to logic, that he deftly employed.
During the mid 1700’s the new found America was struggling for independence from the British. This undetermined notion whether or not to declare war led to the Virginia Convention where, Governor Patrick Henry enforced our nation to engage in war. “Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention” emphasizes the importance of fighting for independence for the American nation, because we shouldn't be treated like slaves of the British. He persuades them to join the war effort enforcing a sense of patriotism to the members by using the rhetorical appeals of parallelism and repetition.
Paine and Henry beautifully helped the struggle of freedom in 1770’s and used speech to bring the slight simmer of uproar to bubbling boil. These two revolutionaries will be forever known in history as the spearhead of the America known today. These highly educated men noticed that the proof in front of their audiences was not penetrating to their minds and they required someone brave enough to say what was unraveling rather than have it on their shores and to walk past. Henry and Paine had a proclivity to move people with graphic and thought-provoking works bursting with rhetoric and figurative language that awakened the souls of their diverse audiences to ignite the war for freedom.
Lincoln's style in this speech was inevitably persuasive. His rhetorical strategy appeals to not only the readers senses, but to their intellectual knowledge as w...
The eighteenth century, a time of turmoil and chaos in the colonies, brought many opinionated writers to the forefront in support or refutation of the coming American Revolution. This highly controversial war that would ultimately separate the future United States of America from Great Britain became the center of debate. Two writers, both of whom supported the Revolution, now stand to fully illuminate one side of the debate. Thomas Paine, a radical propagandist, wrote many pieces during this time including “The Crisis Number 1” (1776). Through writing, he appealed to the “common man” in order to convince them to gather their arms and fight for their freedom. In this document, he utilizes many of the same rhetorical skills and propaganda techniques as Patrick Henry, a convincing orator, did in his famous speech delivered to the state’s delegates in 1775. Among these techniques are transfer, abstract language, and pathos. In both works, these were used to call the audiences to war. These influential pieces both contained a call to action which, through the use of strong and decisive language, aided the beginning of the American Revolution.
Henry is arguing to get the people on the anti-federalist side. He wants the people to realize how much the new constitution would hurt the government. The argument is persuasive. This is because he did not just state his objection, he also gave proof and reasoning behind all of his objections. Henry is using emotions and history to get the people on his side. He gets them to feel how he feels. When reading you feel a connection to the document. You feel a sense of power, but the emotion of fear also happens. This is because you don’t want the government to fall. Henry does a good job at hooking the reader to make them understand where he is coming
It is widely believed that if Patrick Henry had not given the speech “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” which influenced the start of the Revolutionary War, then America might still be under the rule of the British Monarchy. The Revolutionary War was the war when America regained their freedom from the British Monarchy in 1783. Henry is considered by many to be the best orator of his time. Patrick Henry was an attorney and politician; his most important characteristic was being one of America’s most renowned patriots. The effects of his speech were enriching and brought new hope to the American people. People present in the Church could only truly tell the atmosphere that remained at St. John’s Church after Henry concluded his speech. William Wirt (Biographer of Patrick Henry) tells how it felt in the Church, “He took his seat. No murmur of applause was heard. The effect was too deep. After the trance of a moment, several members started from their seats. The cry, ‘to arms!’ seemed to quiver on every lip and gleam from every eye.” The audience can easily connect with Henry’s speech due to the fact they believed in liberty and would protect it at any cost. The speech was so radical because of the pathos that was used. Henry’s use of allusion and antithesis helps develop pathos to convince the House of Burgesses that beginning the Revolutionary War with Great Britain is necessary, to prevent them from forcing America into submission and slavery, in the speech “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.”
...e colonial leaders, by stating he is ready to die for his cause. This would make the members of the house introspective and look into their hearts to see if they are ready to die for their cause. Henry excites fear by stating he is so passionately ready to sacrifice for his country. This play towards pathos, or appealing to the audience’s emotions, is an effective way of trying to convince the House to go to war against Britain. This pathos combined with the logic of Henry’s speech, makes for a convincing argument. Logically taking the house step by step from stating that because he has an outlook on their situation, he should express it to them, to stating his argument before the House, to saying that lacking freedom is worse then death, then taking it full circle pronouncing he would prefer to be “give[n] death” then to have his freedom taken away by the British.
Thomas Jefferson, in his inaugural address, stated that America was, “A rising nation, spread over a wide and fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich productions of their industry…advancing rapidly to the destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye...” He was a strong believer in the progressive nature of morality and held an optimistic view of the nature of humanity and human ability. Jefferson believed that all people were equally naturally endowed with the ability to determine right and wrong. This strong belief in even the common man’s ability to make judgements, gave him a foundation for his support of democracy. Jefferson believed that since all men had this judgement naturally gifted to them, they were capable of selecting
Many speeches have shaped the nation we live in today. Patrick Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention” and Benjamin Franklin’s “Speech in the Convention” are two of the most prominent speeches that have assisted in the forging of our new nation. The “Speech in the Virginia Convention” serves to encourage those that listened to take arms against the British and fight the injustice being done to them. The “Speech in the Convention” admits to the imperfections of the Constitution but supports its ultimate purpose. Both Patrick Henry and Benjamin Franklin believe leaders must do away with compromise and lead when it’s best for the people as a whole. However, Patrick discourages any future compromise, while Benjamin Franklin feels that future
"But when shall we be stronger? Shall it be the next week, or the next year?” this is powerful at this point he is stating why not fight now, is their going to be a better time. They are as strong as they are going to be so why not? This is directed at the people who are not for the war. The last thing that is prominent in his speech is anaphora. He uses it to stress key points and or to urge a direct response. Anaphora "We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves..." These words were chosen to show that they have tried everything. They have plead, protested, begged, and figuratively laid face down. Doing all this and still haven’t had any results. Patrick Henry understands that being passive and or laying down was not acceptable. Doing that would be appeasement and would allow the British to take advantage of the colonies. Patrick would rather die a free man then to allow tyranny to come upon their newly established colonies. The people ultimately agreed with his reasoning. Without the use of schemes and tropes his speech would have lacked the power it