What Are The Rhetorical Devices In Patrick Henry's Speech

A great deal of the power behind Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” and Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention” speech lies in a sharp understanding of the power of rhetorical devices they used to persuade their audience in which enhanced their speeches to become so successful. Both rhetoricians took their audience to a whole other level and where expressing the living reality. Henry, rallying up congressmen who attended the Virginia convention was taking them the rich men literally out of their chairs, who were in shock to the unveiled truth in what was really going on between them and the British. Though King, addressed to citizens who attended his speech agonizing while tearing open his non-supporters hearts, that life can’t

be lived satisfying, if his people's rights are not equal. Henry and King have a valid reason to persuade their audiences so much, and that's because liberty is a serious and far more important subject that can ever cross anyone's pathway and freedom can’t be taken away like nothing. In which made both prosperous men fight and speak out to their people, knowing that there will be a change. Furthermore, Henry and Kings outstanding speeches has inspired their audience to battle for liberty and justice through their effective way of using tropes, rhetorical questions, and their alluring pathos to persuade their audiences.

To affect the audience in such a way that they are really affected is what Henry did by restating “We must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight!”(Henry 5) Additionally the reason Henry chose these words is simple. Henry wanted to get his point of involvement across. In which he restated saying “we must fight”(Henry 5) and to top it off he said it again “we must fight.”(Henry 5) By henry restating it twice, the audience who were rich upper classmen congressmen who attended the convention, of course, got wheeled in and where thinking they have to brawl back. Not only that, but in such a polite way he said “sir”(Henry 5) in which the gentlemen of the Virginia convention can get a serious appeal from henry and that he is not playing. Moreover, Henry wasn’t the only one who used such an effective trope, King also used one as well. To begin King expressed a powerful irony into his audience declaring that “it came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity... the Negro is still not free.”(King 1) And the meaning behind this ironic sentence is pretty straight forward. Starting off King adds the word “it”(King 1) to symbolize the emancipation proclamation that had been issued in 1863 by Abraham lincoln, which gave all the slaves their freedom to live with liberty. King then states “the Negro is still not free”(King 1) in which makes this whole sentence or point ironic because as said again the slaves had gained there believed freedom but weren't treated as if they did but still treated as just slaves. Hearing this from King the audience who were mostly supporters and some who were non-supporters of the equal right movements began to think that King had a point. The point was that this freedom there living isn't much of a difference at all to when slaves were just treated as slaves. Knowing this opened up all off the eyes of the people who were supporters and even the non-supporters. King’s Irony indulged the audience into believing king and that his statement is valid.

Moving on, Henry is the king of rhetorical questions that precisely a whole paragraph in his speech, dedicated to just questioning his audience.

Now why did Henry do this exactly? The reason why Henry used rhetorical questions is because he is expecting his wealthy crowd to know the answer to these solvable questions. To that, Henry asked his gilded congressmen “And what have we to oppose them? Shall we try argument?... Have we anything new to offer on the subject?”(Henry 5) Henry knows that his audience are gullible to this, they know if they are to argue they will just repeat what they've tried to do for the past ten years in which has brought them nowhere and they the congressmen have nothing more to offer, which is very ironic because they are very wealthy indeed. To extend Henry uses these rhetorical questions as a way to persuade the congressmen into rethinking their opinions because Henry sure is making his point yet again justifiable to theirs. Although Henry is the king for using so many rhetorical questions, he is still not the only one that made his inquisitions persuade his Audience. King as well put up his own fight with using his slick smooth rhetorical questions. As Henry questioned his audience to review their opinions into making them believe his was more defendable than theirs, King as well did the same. With that King commenced by asking his prosecutors mostly “When will you be satisfied? We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of brutality.”(King, 9) Although King isn't just questioning his foes but he is also answering them by saying that they will never be satisfied as long as this brutality continues to happen between the Negroes. Moreover by King answering this simple rhetorical question King is opening a gate between his defendants old opinion and into their new and sympathetic judgment. King then touches his audience or amassed opponents by using this pitiful and real inquiry to the point

where a new opinion arises in the audience.

Let alone rhetorical questions were not the greatest compelling piece in Henry's speech. Surprisingly it was the appeals of pathos that gained most of Henry’s audience support in his argument. Considering this, Henry spoke with fear saying “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, almighty God!”(Henry, 5) Thus, Henry wanted to make his audience fearful in a way to persuade them. That this will be their outcome if they the congressmen don't fight back. Ultimately the way Henry is persuading the congressmen is that he is playing with their emotions by settling the unease of becoming slaves and once that unease is out of course anyone would want to stop that terror. In which Henry did, in fact, persuade the wealthy rich men. Not only did Henry himself evoke fear and pity into his audience, King himself did the same. Although King was arousing condolence within his audience again making his non-supporters feel empathy towards this great movement in which they need to stand up for. In that, King wistfully said “I have a dream that my four little children will one…, but the content of their character.” (King 13) With these words not only did King reach out to his do not agree with him that were there listening to his miraculous speech but others in which who weren't attending and again weren't supporters but in fact parents to their loving children. Even so, somehow parents from all over heard that King wants his children to live in a society where they are not judged by their color of their skin but simply judged by their personality. In the same way, every father or even mother wants the best for their children and King's audience felt the out most sorrow for him and his people. King using these words in faith that he could persuade the audience, in fact, worked also even better than expected and in fact, touched almost every parent's heart knowing how King feels.

Clearly Henry and King could not stress enough in persuading their audience. Henry, alluring congressmen to believe him that the British in fact were wrong and that they were trying to make them all slaves. King sticking up for his given rights had convinced all his antagonist that each man no matter what color should be treated equally. These great rhetoricians, in fact, changed the given timeline and made what we now as our life to live true and free independence. In this case, this is the reason Henry and King’s speeches were so successful to the point that it alternated society from what it was before. To put it briefly Henry and Kings speech again inspired their audience in which enhanced the audience to battle for liberty through their ways of using effective tropes, rhetorical questions, and their alluring pathos to persuade their audiences.