Patrick Henry used several ways to get his point across, and get it across clearly. The understanding of Henry's rhetorical situation is extremely important in understanding everything he is trying to prove to his audience. Patrick uses several different strategies to make the audience know what he is saying is very important. One of these strategies is the way Henry uses references to God all throughout the speech. Another strategy Patrick used was showing the importance of the colonist going to war against England. Lastly, Henry proves to the audience in several ways how England has betrayed them. All of these strategies are important to making Henry’s speech successful. Henry knows that he needs to do a good job at getting his point across because there are undecided voters listening to his speech that he is trying to …show more content…
convince to vote his way. Henry uses God very often throughout his speech as a powerful way for him to get his point across to his audience.
This is shown when Henry says, “...responsibility which we hold to our god” (paragraph 1) This quote shows how important it is that the colonist go to war because he feels like it is a responsibility that they owe to their God. During these times, disrespecting God wasn’t something that you did, and nearly everyone was a firm believer in God. Saying something like this really helps Henry catch everyone’s attention and make them see how important the things he is saying really are. Another way Patrick uses God as a powerful way for his rhetorical situation is saying, “... God who presides over the destinies..” (paragraph 10) When Henry said this it made his audience see why they need to go to war. Everytime Henry uses the word God, it makes what he is saying that much more important because once again during this time God is an important figure in their lifestyle. These quotes show why Henry used God so much throughout his speech. It really grasps the listener’s attention and makes what he is saying more relative and personal to
them. Through Henry’s speech he makes it clear that he feels it is only necessary to go to war with England. He feels as if it’s the last resort and they have no other choice at this point. This is shown when Henry says, “...avert the storm now coming…” (paragraph 6) This quote shows that the colonist have tried to get around every obstacle that England has thrown at them, and now the colonist are just at the point where enough is enough and they only thing they can do now, is go to war. When Henry says this he is clearly annoyed with everything the colonist have been through with England, and is ready to put an end to it. Another quote that proves Henry feels it is necessary to go to war is, “...no longer any room for hope.” (paragraph 7) In this quote it is shown that the colonist have had hope and have believed in things getting better with the way England is treating them. But with that being said, it also proves that things just haven’t gotten better and Henry and many other colonists are ready for a change. Both of these quotes prove that Henry feels strongly about going to war with England. Henry makes it clear that he knows England has betrayed the colonist. He also knows that something needs to be done about this. Henry says, “to be betrayed with a kiss.” (paragraph 3) The meaning of this quote shows that England has tried to betray the colonist in a nonviolent way to try to keep the colonist on their side, but Henry won’t let that happen. England has attempted to betray the colonist without looking like the bad guy. This is why Henry used that allusion. Another thing that Henry says that proves Henry feels like England has betrayed them is when he said, “...are fleets and armies necessary?” (paragraph 3) In this quote it is shown that Henry feels like England didn’t need fleets and armies to get done what they wanted done and it just wasn’t something that they even needed. Saying something like this would make his listeners really think about if England really did need armies. Then they would see that it was not necessary for England to have fleets are armies. Both of these quotes prove that Henry uses England betraying the colonist as a way of his audience to get a good understanding of what he is saying. Throughout the course of Henry’s speech he uses several different ways to prove his point to his audience. His rhetorical appeal is extremely important in doing this. Henry did many things through the speech to ensure that everyone would have a well understanding of what he is trying to say, such as, using God as a powerful way to get his point across; showing how necessary it is to go to war with England; and proving to his audience that England has blatantly betrayed them as colonist. All three of these rhetorical appeals help Henry throughout his speech to get his audience to change or make them firm believers in what Henry is trying to say. Using these three strategies Henry can easily persuade his audience because all of these things he is saying stop and make them think because the words he uses to connect his audience on a personal level.
Patrick Henry’s effective diction emphasizes how much the British had suppressed the colonists and that it was time to fight for their freedom. Henry displays this through his strong use of pathos, logos, and ethos. His rhetorical questions really appeal to the logic and ethics of the colonists and leaves the no choice but to join him and rebel.
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.
Jonathan Edwards creates a more effective argument for the intended audience in “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” than “The Speech in the Virginia Convention” written by Patrick Henry, by utilizing various techniques. Patrick Henry makes a strong argument however in the end, Edwards’ sermon grows to be more effective. Edwards creates the argument by strengthening the writing through tone, structure, fallacies and knowledge of the congregation that became his audience. Henry’s piece uses methods of oratory persuasion but the actual topic of “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” has an advantage from the start by appealing to fear, a fallacy of logic. Even with the strong basis “The Speech in the Virginia Convention” by Patrick Henry, Edwards’ “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God” proves the more effective piece in the end.
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
The first appeal that Henry uses in his speech is ethos which appeals to ethics. Evidence from the text is, “fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country” (lines 13-14). This shoes that God has credibility. It also shows that you need to respect God over Britain. The next piece of evidence that I found in the speech is whenever the text said, “…and of an act of disloyalty towards the majesty of heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings” (lines 16-17). This is saying that you should respect God above man. That is two ways how Henry used the ethical appeal, ethos.
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.
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
“Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.” This mantra from Margaret Mead is a somewhat humorous yet slightly satirical spin on how people tend to think of themselves as one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable human specimens. However, one English teacher from Wellesley High School takes this critique one step further with his polemic presentation at the school commencement. David McCullough, a Massachusetts English teacher, gave a seemingly somber sendoff to his graduates in 2012, with a speech that contained some unapologetically harsh sentiments. However, by looking past the outwardly dismal surface of the speech, the students can infer a more optimistic message. By incorporating devices of asyndeton, paradox, antimetabole, and anadiplosis, McCullough conveys to each student that even though none of them is unique, their commonality is not a fault they all have merit and should strive to view the world through a more selfless lens.
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...
Patrick Henry’s speech is very powerful and yet emotional at the same time. There is an urgent need in reacting to the British as there is “no time for ceremony,” and the Americans must resist their “insidious smile.” Henry is appealing to pathos because this is not the time to let down their guard and to pay attention to what the British are really doing. He is also referring to the lack of positive responses like “a snare to your feet” from the petitions that were sent to the British, an image of a trap ready to capture the
Such as parallelism he states, “We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostated” in this quote henry is trying to really emphasize that they have tried everything to which no avail. He wants to silence the people’s speculation and by repeating “we have” and using the same verb tense his point only comes across stronger. Another rhetorical device he uses is logical appeal saying, “And judging by the past I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years.” Here he is explaining that the British have done nothing for them in such a long time so what would they have to gain by staying loyal. He is stating the facts to which no one can argue and this is what makes his speech strong. Lastly he is most famously known for the line “I know not what course others may take but as for me give me liberty or give me death.” The emotion he uses at the end of his speech only heightens to the climax and leaves people to think long after he is
Patrick Henry attempts to persuade the House of Burgesses to revolt and declare war against Britain by logically convincing them that it is their natural right to be free and calling on their patriotism and pride as leaders of colonial America. Throughout his speech, Henry justifies his argument for going to war, by logically explaining himself to the leaders of the American colonies. Obviously “men often see the same subject in different light.” Therefore, Patrick Henry uses this in a step-by-step explanation of why he believes that the colonies should join together in revolt. He states, because men have different views, he wishes to express his own, without “be[ing] disrespectful,” to anyone in the House.
Rhetorical Analysis: The Declaration of Independence. Our Declaration of Independence, was penned most notably by Thomas Jefferson in response to the atrocities committed by the British Crown against the citizens of the American Colonies. At the time of the drafting of The Declaration, Jefferson was widely known to be a successful practitioner of Law as a lawyer, and an eloquent writer. It is due to this, that although Jefferson was a member of a five-man committee charged with drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was tapped to be the main author. After enduring “a long train of abuses and usurpations” the colonists decided to declare themselves free of British rule (para 2).
Four and a half months after the Union defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. He gave the Union soldiers a new perspective on the war and something to fight for. Before the address, the Civil War was based solely on states’ rights. Lincoln’s speech has the essence of America and the ideals that were put into the Declaration of Independence by the founders. The sixteenth president of the United States was capable of using his speech to turn a war on states rights to a war on slavery and upholding the principles that America was founded upon. By turning the Civil War into a war that was about slavery he was able to ensure that no foreign country would recognize the south as an independent nation, thus ensuring Union success in the war. In his speech, Lincoln used the rhetorical devices of juxtaposition, repetition, and parallelism.
Through high moral character Henry established credibility with the audience through creating a setting that aroused feelings in the people at the convention in order to convince them they had to fight for more than just peace. The goal Henry had when he spoke about war was to be honest with the crowd and point out that they needed to do something now or they would lose not just what he loved, but what they also loved. Henry said “If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending.and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must fight!”. In this quote, the tactic of ethics is apparent in that Henry wanted to achieve a personal level of connection with the audience and establish his credibility. By relating losing the war it also meant the loss of their feelings of comfort and contentment from the privileges they had worked hard on to achieve.