Patrick Henry Speech Rhetorical Devices

At a tense meeting in a church in Richmond, Virginia, away from the watchful eyes of Britain, Patrick Henry began to deliver a rousing speech to the Second Convention of Delegates. His passion was tangible to the audience as he called the delegates to action. His speech was memorable to everyone in the room and powerful in convincing the delegates to support the war. Little did he know that this speech would continue to be known for its power and persuasion for generations to come. Throughout Patrick Henry's speech, he emphasized the necessity to act against Britain and support the war, but he did so in a way that was unavoidably persuasive. Henry used emotional appeal, metaphors, and rhetorical questions in order to convince the delegates

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?” (Henry)

Patrick Henry, an attorney and politician, delivered a speech at St. John’s Church in Richmond. Virginia on March 23, 1775. This speech was later considered the “Give me Liberty or Give me Death” speech due to it’s powerful conclusion. In the speech Henry discusses the colonies’ freedom-freedom from the royal crown, Britain. He attempts to explain that this revolutionary war in inevitable and the more it was delayed, the more difficult it would be to fight for their freedom. Patrick Henry’s motivation behind this proclamation was to influence his audience into raising an army, to fight for independence. For decades, the colonists were under British control, but Patrick Henry used the power of rhetoric to motivate the colonists. Patrick Henry uses a number of rhetorical strategies to persuade the delegates that war against the British is absolutely needed for their freedom.

The prominent patriot Patrick Henry once said, “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” (Henry 7) implying that a life without liberty is not a righteous life. Henry’s quote is included in his popular oratory “Speech to the Virginia Convention.” While discussing with the colonists, Henry lists all of the discrepancies the thirteen colonies had with Great Britain, concluding that there is no other option, but to retaliate instantaneously. In Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention,” he utilizes amplifying loaded words and coherent parallelism in order to influence the assembly to unify and reciprocate.

Many men were pivotal to the American cause in the War for Independence, and one of the most influential was Patrick Henry. In his famous speech “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” Patrick Henry delivered a powerful speech through the manipulative use of language and word choice. On March 23, 1775, the third Virginia convention was held in St. John 's Church in Richmond. The convention was held to discuss relations with Great Britain. This was the place where Patrick Henry made his timeless speech "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!" to the House of Burgesses with the hope of freeing Virginia from British rule. He spoke with conviction and showed undeniable support for the fight against the English government. He used the appeals of ethos, pathos, and logos to instill fear and anger in his audience. He effectively used religion and evidence of British oppression to connect with his audience and help persuade opponents and supporters of the Revolution to unite and fight for American independence.

Writing to an audience that still lacks the desire to oppose the British, Patrick Henry in his "Speech to Virginia House of Burgesses" focuses on the rights of man and defying oppressors. Through figurative language, rhetorical questions, and diction, Henry heightens the necessity to rise up and fight against the British ruling power over the colonist population in Northern America.

Liam Carr Mr. Rutledge Dual Credit English 4 21 September 2015 A Timeless Argument for Liberty Without Patrick Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give me Death” speech most of America’s founding fathers would either be forgotten or vilified today. Ironically many Americans today have forgotten Patrick Henry despite his contributions. Patrick Henry used rhetorical questions, context, ethos, pathos, and logos in his speech “Give me Liberty or Give me Death” to convince the colonists to prepare for war with Britain. Patrick Henry believes that war with Britain is inevitable and that the colonies would only be made weaker and less able to resist British tyranny the longer they tried to gain increased independence diplomatically.

March 23rd, 1775, Patrick Henry speaks at the Virginia Convention. While everyone else wants to tip toe around the fact of war and wants to keep the peace. Patrick Henry doesn’t and gives it to everyone straight in his words, “- give me liberty or give me death!” I will be giving a rhetorical analysis breaking down each and every piece of his speech.

Patrick Henry uses rhetorical questions to emphasize the importance of becoming independent from Great Britain and help support his argument. "But when shall we be stronger? Shall it be the next week, or the next year?” is an example of a rhetorical question. He asks these questions hoping to bring about strong emotions in the audience,

In the 1700s, the United States was undergoing several reformations. Patrick Henry was a famous politician fighting for independence from Great Britain. Patrick Henry, in his speech to the “Second Virginia Convention”, using diction, imagery, and details portrays a patriotic tone.

No one of the time would want to start a war with the most powerful nation in the world, and many colonists demanded that they simply stay under British control. Henry makes a mockery of these men’s ideas. The most obvious form of Henry's attack on submission is when he announces, “Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace”. Henry is explicitly pointing out that, while the colonists claim to want peace, it simply does not exist. Henry furthers the argument of an absence of peace despite such cries with, “The war is actually begun.” While a war had yet to officially begin, Henry dramatizes the unrest that lingers on both sides, demonstrating how impossible peace would be to achieve in such a situation. By condemning the men’s call for peace, on the grounds that peace has already been broken, he forces men to agree that resorting to war is not out of order. In addition, Patrick Henry uses a similar method of rendering a counterargument obsolete to invoke war when he discusses the strengths of the colonies. Henry begins this with the comment of, “they tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable and adversary”. While this may be true, Henry argues that the colonists will be no stronger “by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope”. With this, Henry is able to make his

Patrick Henry, a fiery Virginian, delivered a persuasive speech on March 23, 1775 to convince his fellow American colonist about their relationship with Great Britain. He believed that the only choice left for the American colonists was to go to war with Great Britain so they would be able to receive their long awaited freedom. Henry use of emotional and forceful language along with an effective use of syntactic techniques guides the Americans into accepting that his claim should be their only option.

Throughout the speech, Henry elaborates his purposes through the use of imagery, rhetorical questioning, and allusion in order to encourage Americans to become independent from the British crown. Towards the end of the speech he wonders “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?” This evokes fear into the minds of the people and the thought of this angers them enough to make them think to declare independence. Henry continues on saying we have a tendency to “shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she

Patrick Henry was an American attorney and politician in Virginia during the 1700’s. Henry is most famously known for a speech he gave to the Second Virginia Convention in 1750. In his speech, Henry uses pathos to connect with the convention by utilizing their religious and social beliefs. He also uses anaphora and juxtaposition in order to persuade the Second Virginia Convention to join the Revolutionary War.

In Henry’s speech, he uses more pathos approach to attract the attention and emotion of his audience. Henry starts his speech with a sense of patriotic ideals. His writing gives an idea of trust and a sense of fellowship between the Continental Congress and himself. “Speak forth of sentiments freely.” As he addresses his point he uses emotion to emphasize his reasoning. This text shows how he compares slavery and freedom to the situation with British. Since Slavery and freedom is a very popular topic, it is fueled by emotion. The most iconic part of the speech is his cry “Give me liberty or give me death!” This is an example of pathos in his speech. This cry is influential and is left for the Continental congress to reconcile. Having an introduction that engages the audience into reading the text is very