...Patrick Henry an upright political leader made a speech, boldly influencing colonists to have an armed confrontation with England. His speech was successful because of the way he was able to move his audience. The use of rhetorical devices such as parallelism, restatement, repetition, and rhetorical questions emphasized his key points, which made his speech memorable. Parallelism was achieved in Henry’s speech by making the listeners feel included in one large cause. By saying “ If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending, if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been engaged…” Henry uses the most uplifting example of parallelism. The repeating grammatical structure helps show how professional, and prepared he was. This structure helps his audience remember what he says, which makes it more persuasive....
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...In this legendary speech, Mr. Patrick Henry called out the British king and inspires the colonist to fight back for independence. This meant putting himself on the line and committing treason. Due to his speech, people considered him as the most powerful orator of the American Revolution. Throughout the speech, he uses many different oratorical devices to get his point across. Some of the devices was repetition/restatement, parallelism, and also by asking rhetorical questions. Mr. Henry uses repetition/restatement by repeating phrases over and over again or restating a phrase so that it tends to stick in your head. One phrase he repeats is "We must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight!" In this phrase, he is telling the colonist that they must stand up against the British and fight for their independence. Mr. Patrick Henry restated different sources to help his convince the colonists to fight back against the British. Two of the many were "The Odyssey" and the bible's book of Ezekiel....
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...Patrick Henry criticized war and all the acts of Great Britain which claimed that they were done for endearment. In Patrick Henry’s speech, “Give me Liberty” he emphasizes that the solution was to uphold a strong, alert, active and bold fight with God on their side. Although Henry states he is patriotic to Britain, he has a different view on how to handle this situation. Henry begins building his credibility with allusion of hope, citing convincing evidence, and successfully employing emotional appeals. In his speech, Henry begins his speech by discussing hope in allusions by making a point that man-hopes for freedom without fighting, but refute this idea, proving that it cannot be a reality. For example, “listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts” (Henry) This alludes to the Odyssey metaphorically comparing how the British are giving the colonies false hope to how Circe lures men to her island, giving them false hope and then transforms them into pigs. This false hope the British give...
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...I find it ironic how Patrick Henry speaks about being slaves to the british and standing up for colonist’s beliefs in the late 1700’s. However Martin Luther King Jr. writes in his letter about being free from the same americans who have locked him up for his own beliefs. As skilled orators who have shaped America, Patrick Henry and Martin Luther King Jr. use similar and different rhetorical devices to convey the message they would like to get across. Patrick Henry and Martin Luther King both use rhetorical strategies like, repetition to make their words and the meaning behind them more effective, yet Patrick Henry seems to use more of an abundance of rhetorical questions to enforce his ideas than MLK. Henry and King have used rhetorical strategies...
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...colonies in 1775. British soldiers were sailing across the sea by the boatload, and taking away everything the colonists knew and loved. Patrick Henry, however, was one man who stood above the rest, and was not willing to accept the tyranny of the British. Henry addressed what was known as the Virginia Convention, and gave what ended up being one of the greatest speeches of all time. Using rhetorical questions, repetition, symbolism, personification, allusion, and parallelism, Patrick Henry urged the members of the Virginia Convention and the citizens of every county in Virginia to fight back against the British and regain their freedom and hometown. One of the strongest and most often used rhetorical devices that Henry used was rhetorical question. Many of these questions were asked so the members of the Virginia Convention would better understand that they needed to go to war. Henry asked “Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love?” Up until this point in time, the citizens of the colonies had been nothing but cooperative to the British. Even though the members of the Virginia Convention knew that British weren’t invading out of love, Henry asks this question to prove that they had done nothing wrong. Patrick Henry also states “Are we to oppose them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new...
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...In the “Speech to the Virginia Convention”(1775), Patrick Henry convinced colonist to start a war against Britain by using rhetorical devices. Henry used imagery to help him persuade and show the colonist that they were shutting their eyes to what the British were doing. He used allusion to emphasize that the colonist were being blinded by comparing them to other people in a famous story they knew. Henry used parallelism to emphasize his point by repeating what he said. He also used rhetorical questions so that he could give the colonist a question they would know the answer to and also so they could think about it. Henry used many rhetorical devices and in the end they helped him convince the colonist to go to war against Britain. Patrick...
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...A. Dao English 3P, Period 1 Ms. Alba 2nd November, 2015 Early American Ideas: Patrick Henry It is how people treat their peers, human nature. The human nature that can be found in Americans is like no other. The American is a strong, proud, and passionate man. Mr. Patrick Henry seems to have proved the previous statement quite accurately with his logical and emotional appeal. For example, Henry states “Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.”( ¶ 3 Page 2). This quote explains Henry’s definition of human nature, where he thinks that all American’s have the ability to come up and fight together against any enemy in their path....
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...world with a rebellious objection. In the shadow of British rule, Patrick Henry spoke at the Virginia convention to raise militia and strengthen defenses. Henry’s eloquence left the Convention president in awe, allowing him to establish his influence in history and setting forth an unforeseen movement toward American independence. In his speech advocating for a daring proposition for separation from oppressive power, Henry delivers many rhetorical devices, including biblical allusions and rhetorical questioning, to encourage rebellion for the people. The passion for Christianity is deeply rooted within the values and opinions of the founding fathers,...
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...In the early spring of 1775, the thirteen American colonies are torn between compromising and imminent war with Britain. Patrick Henry, an American democracy supporter, knew within himself that compromise was no longer an option. Determined and ambitious, Henry took it upon himself to try and convince the Virginia Convention to fight back. He gave an empowering speech by using rhetorical devices that appeal to logic, emotions, and credibility. Henry used appeals to logic and thinking quite frequently. Henry stated, “I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience.” The lamp of experience Henry is referring to, is the past. In the past, the colonists have tried numerous negotiation attempts and they all failed....
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...Persuasion is a technique that aims to move an audience and grab their attention. Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence and Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention are influential arguments about independence that gain America’s attention. The two pieces compare and contrast in persuasive techniques. Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson both provide the colonists with reasons to declare their independence. At the same time, Henry urges his audience to unite and join the war against Britain while Jefferson encourages more peaceful tactics to gain independence. Patrick Henry wants the colonists to stand up and fight for what they believe in in order to win their independence. Thomas Jefferson, on the other hand, does not believe it matters what...
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...Patrick Henry strategically made rhetorical choices in his address “Speech to the Virginia Convention” to argue that it was time to start the Revolutionary War for America to gain its independence. Starting the speech with a bold claim, “No man thinks more highly than I do of patriotism.”, Henry transparently addressed his stance on the United States’ freedom. He informed the convention that he fully supported America’s liberty, but he had different ideas than theirs on how they should achieve it. Henry used inductive reasoning in his address to build evidence to support his claim, “If we wish to be free.-we must fight!”. He organized his speech by addressing the opinions of others and their reasons and then proceeded to give evidence of why...
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...the same country if it was not for our founding fathers. If you take out the “King of Influence,” Patrick Henry, response could very be yes. Henry played an important role in the triumph of America’s independence. With Thomas Jefferson and Richard Lee, Henry helped create the House of Burgesses in Virginia. Early spring of 1775, Henry came together with others at the Virginia Convention to talk about the need for the mobilization of the military. He was a younger man compared to the others, therefore he had to invoke motivation in the other men to fight against the British. This man spoke with affinity, fervor, zeal, and clearly showed that the only way for the American peace was through war with...
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...Patrick Henry 1. According to Patrick Henry, what is the basic question being debated at the Virginia Convention? Patrick Henry says it is “nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery.” 2. What reasons does Henry offer to suggest that the British were not worthy of trust at that time? His main reason was that the British were building a military that he believed was to be used against America. 3. What argument does Henry provide against the notion that the colonies are too weak to fight the British? He says that God has given America what it needs to fight and that America will win if they use what they have been given. He says that America wants to believe that everything is fine. 4. What is Henry implying when he says that he is loyal to "the majesty of heaven...above all earthly kings"? What tone (manner in which an author expresses his attitude) does this statement hold? This means that he is loyal to God over anyone else. His tone is humble and respectful. 5. Why are Henry's final words so effective and memorable? Those words have been used several times over the years and have become a symbol of our country. To die instead of having freedom is a very powerful notion. 6. A rhetorical question is a question posed to emphasize a point, not for the purpose of getting an answer. Henry uses this device extensively throughout his speech. Find one example in the speech, quote it and explain what point he is emphasizing with those particular...
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...Truth Inspires Change In Patrick Henry’s speech, “Speech to the Virginia Convention”, and Jonathan Edwards’s sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, they address different audiences with the same goal: to inspire change within their respective societies. Henry, the politician, and Edwards, the preacher, have different views and backgrounds, but both address the audiences with the ultimate hope of them accepting the reality of his or her situation. In the speech by Patrick Henry and the sermon by Jonathan Edwards, both Henry and Edwards use various rhetorical devices to expose truth that exhorts a shift of mind and heart. Though Henry and Edwards use...
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...Patrick Henry is not a very well know man today. When you ask people about him no one even knows who he was or what he did for America. In this parer hopefully you will learn more about who Patrick Henry was and see the important that he played in America history. Patrick Henry was born in Hanover Country, Virginia on May 29, 1736. He was born to John and Sarah Winston Henry. He was a figure of American’s struggles for liberty and self-government. Henry was a lawyer, planter, speaker, and willing participant in virtually every aspect of the founding of America. He was married two times to Sarah Shelton, with which he had six kids and Dorothea Dandridge who had eleven kids. Henry served in the Virginia House of Burgesses; he was a member of the Virginia committee of Correspondence, a delegate to the Virginia Convention and a delegated to the Virginia Constitution Ratification Convention. He played a protuberant part in the May 6, 1776, convention and became the first governor of the commonwealth under its new constitution. Patrick Henry served five terms as governor of Virginia from 1776-1779 and then again 1784-1786. Henry was most known for his speech “Give me Liberty or Give me Death” (Henry, P. 1775) which he gave on March 23, 1775. Unfortunately the text of this speech like most of his speech he gave was not documented until years after his death. This speech did not first appear in print until William Wirt published it in 1816 in “Life and Character of Patrick Henry”...
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