ipl-logo

Patrick Henry Give Me Death Speech Analysis

442 Words2 Pages

Henry’s Method for Achieving His Purpose In the speech Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death, Patrick Henry uses allusion, symbolism, juxtaposition, and rhetorical questions to achieve his purpose. Henry’s purpose is to convince the Loyalists of his cause, which this speech does effectively. Because he used strong rhetorical devices, his language really clarified his points in why the Loyalists should commit treason and join the war, effectively convincing them to join the revolution. In the speech, Henry emphasizes the point of hope and the denial of truth when he uses symbolism and an allusion. When Henry alludes to the Greek mythology of the Sirens, he compares the song of the siren to the illusion of hope, which comes crashing down when “she transforms us into beasts.” (Henry). The transformation of the men into …show more content…

When Henry used juxtaposition in his rhetorical question, it was unusually powerful because the tension of the “fleets and armies” versus “love and reconciliation” is also the tension of every other war in history. The idea of the rhetorical question is to ask a question so straight to the point that they don’t know how to answer it. Henry uses a lot of these questions in the speech, to show how he feels and what he’s experienced while putting the Loyalists in the picture and forcing them to realize the impact of how they treat the enslaved. The juxtaposition between armies and love is powerful in convincing the loyalists because King George was already sending armies, so they had to make the decision to keep loving the King, no matter how awful he was to them, or to fight back. To conclude, Patrick Henry’s use of rhetorical devices furthered his argument that the Loyalists should commit treason and rebel against the King because the explanation of his points was so detailed that it was impossible to ignore the fact that the revolution had to

Show More
Related

Rhetorical Analysis Of Patrick Henry's Speech In The Virginia Convention

524 Words | 3 Pages

Under the control of the British Parliament in 1775, the American colonies consider going to war in order to gain independence from Britain. In “Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention,” Henry addresses the need for American colonists to work together to stop the British from controlling them. Thus, Henry’s periodic sentence, rhetorical questions, antithesis, and anaphora successfully convince the American colonists to unite against the British and to bring awareness to their wrongdoings. Firstly, Henry applies periodic sentences and rhetorical questions to convey the idea that the American Colonists must fight back against the British by working together if they want to gain freedom. Henry believes that “if [they] wish to

Read More

The Rhetorical Analysis Of Patrick Henry's Speech

730 Words | 3 Pages

Lawyer and politician, Patrick Henry in his speech, “Give me Liberty Or Give Me Death” (March 23, 1775), explains that he give this plea to urge the old dominion to form militias to defend itself against British. He supports his claim by first using a religious reference to express the themes of freedom, equality, and independence. Then uses a selection of other strategies like rhetorical question and allusion to disprove the opposing arguments and clarify the point he is making. Patrick Henry purpose is to fight back and he wants other to fight with him in order for independence. He creates a powerful and commanding tone for the second Virginia convention.

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of Patrick Henry Speech

748 Words | 3 Pages

In doing this Henry forms a connection between the need to have a war and religion. This connection helps attach the reader to Henry's opinions and make them more open to the war. All in all, Henry confronts the delegates of the Virginia Convention with the inevitable British invasions and changes the opinions of the delegates through diction, figurative language and rhetorical

Read More

What Is The Rhetorical Question In Patrick Henry's Speech

738 Words | 3 Pages

He calls upon Britain’s intentions with their use of their military force in the colonies when he said, “Ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies?” Through this rhetorical question, Henry was saying that the British’s only desire for their forces in the colonies was to sustain the loyalty of the colonists toward Britain and to fetter the colonists from true freedom. One may believe that claim is true because, if losing the loyalty of the colonists wasn't a threat, the English would never have bothered to send their troops in the first place.

Read More

Patrick Henry's Speech Ethos

1018 Words | 5 Pages

On March 23, 1775, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” was heard all throughout St. John 's Church. These famous words were not only a great speaker looking to have his voice heard, but they would have an everlasting impact on young English students studying the use of ethos, logos, and pathos. Patrick Henry also used figurative languages such as allusions, parallelism, and biblical references to bring his speech to life. In this specific piece of literature, qualities like independence and individualism are exceedingly prominent, this all being due to Henry’s use of literary devices. Conversely, in the very first sentence, Henry uses ethos to articulate how he is patriotic to his home, but he occupies diverse views than his audience, the Virginia

Read More

Use Of Ethos In Patrick Henry's Speech

425 Words | 2 Pages

Speech of the Great The Revolutionary War a time of conflict and persuasion, trying to change the outcome Partick Henry writes the “Speech to The Virginia Convention”. Right before the Revolutionary War in the year 1775 Patrick Henry wrote a speech to the president to try and persuade to go to war but to do it in the right way. Henry uses ethos to hit the president’s emotion by talking about how in the past British hasn’t always had their side and they could easily play them, he also uses ethos by using analogies on what the outcome could be. It’s important for Patrick Henry to persuade the colonist to go to war because he wants them to realize that British isn’t always going to be on our side.

Read More

Rhetorical Devices In Patrick Henry's Speech

800 Words | 4 Pages

His choice of language is effective at evoking emotion. Through rhetorical questions, Henry was able to emphasize his points, and grab the audience’s attention, creating an emotional effect on the listeners. “Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?” These statements prove the speaker’s argument and stir the audience’s emotions.

Read More

A Rhetorical Analysis Essay On Patrick Henry

459 Words | 2 Pages

Patrick henry uses rhetorical appeals by using God to persuade memebers of the virginia convention to go to war with Britian. He uses pathos, logos, and ethos because he appeasl to peoples emotions and how they feel about going to war with Britain. Henry is a person who fights to get what he wants. He's a man that believes fighting is the only way of getting freedom. Henry is a credible speaker because of this he gets some to agree with him on going to war with Britain, and some still disagree becasue some say they are not ready, they are weak.

Read More

Patrick Henry Speech To The Second Virginia Convention Rhetorical Analysis

701 Words | 3 Pages

Rhetorical Analysis Convincing people of something or to do something is not an easy task but Patrick Henry's “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention” shows how well someone can persuade people when they trust you, appeal to their emotions, or back up what you are saying with facts...ethos, pathos, and logos. The purpose of this speech is to persuade the colonist to fight against the british. Patrick is talking to the members of the virginia convention and what they need to do to become free. Patrick Henry uses ethos to help convince the audience that he knows what he's talking about and how they should trust him.

Read More

Rhetorical Techniques Used In Patrick Henry's Speech To The Virginia Convention

689 Words | 3 Pages

He forces the audience to accept what he is saying as the truth. “We must fight!” a short exclamatory sentence which creates a sense of urgency into the audience. As the speech reaches its climax, and the excitement and energy that Henry has placed into the audience, they are now convinced and ready to charge into battle against the British. Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention” was a call to arms to the colonist against the British during the 1700’s.

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of Henry's 'Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death'

756 Words | 4 Pages

Drawing upon his established ethos, Henry alludes to the Bible, implying that if the Convention ignored him they would face destruction. Henry develops this idea of destruction throughout his speech, creating an emotional sense of fear and urgency around his argument with words such as “snare,” “war and subjugation,” “chains,” and “tyrannical.” Despite this heavy pathos throughout his speech, Henry also incudes logic, speaking of how he must judge the future by the past, and for that reason can only find proof that Britain will continue to mistreat the Colonies. He additionally utilizes logos through recounting all the acts they have tried so far, which had all been in vain, as well as through a series of “if… then” statements, such as “if we wish to be free… [then] we must

Read More

Literary Devices Used In Patrick Henry's Speech

485 Words | 2 Pages

With the same purpose of persuasion, the literary device logos is used as a solely logical and factual form of enticement or argumentation, especially in paragraph 13. He uses this “fact of the matter” when he states that the colonies were a force to be reckoned with, “three millions of people, armed with the holy cause of liberty” to be exact. As has been noted all throughout Patrick Henry’s speech, he uses many devices and fallacies to inform his audience of the facts, explain what said facts mean for the country and people, and to persuade and alert their viewpoints; all of this is done magnificently and famously in his “Give Me

Read More

Rhetorical Techniques In Patrick Henry's Speech

500 Words | 2 Pages

I repeat it sir, let it come.” The main point of the speech is that the colonists must go to war to protect their own freedom. He is saying that there is only way to the war and they should follow that path. Another way patrick henry uses rhetorical question in his speech is his use of ethos. Partick believes strong in his country and states, “... but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”.

Read More

Rhetorical Devices In Patrick Henry

460 Words | 2 Pages

On March 23,1775 Patrick Henry convinced colonists to fight against Britain by using four rhetorical devices which were allusion, imagery, one-word sentences and rhetorical questions. He did this by reading his famous speech called “the Virgina Convention speech”. These four devices helped Patrick Henry convinced many people that were still not willing to go to war. Patrick Henry purpose for using allusion was to helped him connect with the listeners. “Listen to the song of the siren till she transforms us into beast.”

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death

1000 Words | 4 Pages

Henry tries to show the audience a different viewpoint, rather than discrediting their own. During his speech, Henry made biblical references such as “ Different men often see the same subject

Read More

More about Patrick Henry Give Me Death Speech Analysis

Open Document