Persuasion in Jonathan Edwards’s Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and Patrick Henry’s Speech to the Virginia Convention

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The word “persuasion” can be defined as a form of discourse that uses logical and emotional appeals to convince the audience to think or act in a certain way. This type of technique is used throughout the speeches of Jonathan Edwards’s “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention.” The similarities and differences between the two speeches can be seen through the main idea, the purpose of each speech, and the author’s use of literary elements.
The main idea in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and in “Speech to the Virginia Convention” is to push the audience to stand up and fight against a certain adversary. In “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Jonathan Edwards is trying to convince the people in the congregation to accept Christ as their savior and fight against going to hell. Edwards states in his sermon that the only way of gaining salvation is to acknowledge Jesus as their savior; or else, their fate has already been decided, which is going to hell. In “Speech to the Virginia Convention,” Patrick Henry is inducing his ...

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