ipl-logo

Logos In Patrick Henry's Speech

619 Words3 Pages

Henry’s Striking Speech
“I am not a Virginian but an American”(Henry 2). During the age of reason, people believed in logic and appealed more to statistics and reason rather than ethics or emotion. People were interested in and aimed for liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state. During the age of reason, people feared the devil. One of the struggles the people went through during this time was the war between the United States and Britain. “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” by Patrick Henry is a persuasive speech written to convince America to fight back against Britain and free Virginia from the British colonial rule using logos. Henry urges the colonists to judge the future based …show more content…

Britain viewed themselves superior to the United States and the American citizens were forced to accept and obey the British colonial rule. It was of great significance for Henry to persuade the colonists with his speech in order for them to take action against Britain and the British rule and that nothing they have done has worked so far. Henry’s speech contains logos by providing logical reasoning as to why we should fight Britain and take back our freedom. He uses logos when he says “What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on”(Henry 3). This quote contains logical reasoning as to why the delegates should agree with him and take action against British rule. Patrick explains that we as Americans are cheating ourselves by holding back and not fighting Britain. Logos appears again when he explains everything Britain has done wrong and that they consider themselves superior to other countries and to keep us in their possession. “They are sent over to blind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forgiving. And what have we done to oppose them?... Sir, we have tried for the last ten years”(Henry 4). This quote was effective and convinced the

Show More
Related

  • What Is The Similarities Between Patrick Henry And The American Crisis

    1307 Words  | 6 Pages

    Give them liberty of give them death! In 1773, Thomas Paine wrote “The American Crisis”, an essay designed to persuade the colonists to separate from Britain. In 1775, Patrick Henry delivered his “Speech in the Virginia Convention with the same idea. Paine and Henry wanted to persuade the colonists to stand up for their freedom and basic human rights against Britain. The writings of Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry both use metaphors, include rhetorical questions, and serve the same purpose.

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

    689 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the “Speech to the Virginia Convention” given by Patrick Henry to the President in 1775, asserts that the colonists should not be trying to negotiate with the British. His purpose was to convince the audience that they should not be trying to befriend the people of Great Britain rather that they should make Great Britain their foe. Henry uses his speech to appeal to both the President and the colonist through the use of figurative language, tone, and syntax. Patrick Henry’s use of diction, a persuasive and forceful tone, appeal to ethos and pathos, as well as various syntactical elements in his “Speech to the Virginia Convention” shows that the colonists should be fighting to break away from the British monarchy rather than negotiate terms to try and stay under their clutches.

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Essay On Patrick Henry

    459 Words  | 2 Pages

    Finally, he also uses logos to show logical appeal towards the audience. Patrick henry says "shall we try arguments" talking about and thinking about everything they have done in the past that hasnt worked. Henry say the British will betray the colonists, telling the audience you can't trust the British that why we shall fight. Give me liberty or give me death is a way of him saying and showing he will get peace one way or another, but if the people dont agree with him then there is no hope for freedom so give him

    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

  • What Are The Rhetorical Devices Used In Patrick Henry's Speech

    691 Words  | 3 Pages

    During this time, religion was very important so it was very crucial for Patrick Henry to mention this in his speech, because it was a main appeal everyone had in common. Finally, Patrick Henry uses the rhetorical appeal of logos, logic appeal. Mr. Henry uses logos when he says, “...what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission?”. This is a logical analysis, because he points out that there is no other reason for the warlike products, but for the Americans. Another logical point Mr. Henry makes is when he says “...we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on...petitioned...remonstrated...supplicated...and implored its interposition...

    Read More

  • 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

  • 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 Use Of Ethos And Logos In Patrick Henry's Speech

    570 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication?" He's making them think about everything they've done in the past that hasn't worked. Another example of logos is "Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrance have produced additional violence insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. There is no longer any room for hope. " Henry is telling us that the British have been unresponsive to anything but armed resistance.

    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

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death

    1000 Words  | 4 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 the use of 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 used not only these rhetorical devices but also allusions, parallelism, and biblical references to bring his speech to life. In the very first sentence, Henry uses ethos to state how he is patriotic to his home

    Read More

  • Logos And Ethos In Henry David's Civil Disobedience

    610 Words  | 3 Pages

    At the beginning of the essay, it introduced logos to explain Henry’s reasoning to the audience why his action was necessary. Henry didn’t pay his poll tax, which would go directly to the government. He didn’t like the government involvement

    Read More

  • What Is The Rhetorical Question In Patrick Henry's Speech

    738 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Patrick Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention,” Henry uses persuasive techniques such as repetition and rhetorical questions to interrogate the motives of the British and to reason why the colonies should declare their independence despite the consequences. In Henry’s speech, he uses repetition to address that war is inevitable to show how they must fight in order to achieve their goals as a nation and to prove that the colonists will not be alone over the course of the battle. In Henry’s speech he includes, “The war is inevitable—and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!” By this quote, Henry is saying that the colonists have already gone so far and worked so hard to give up now.

    Read More

  • What Is The Claim In Patrick Henry's Speech

    345 Words  | 2 Pages

    Patrick Henry’s claim in his speech to the Virginia Convention is war with England is the only way to win freedom and their desires because England makes this the only choice. Before Patrick went up there were other men that had spoken before him, these men were speaking their views on whether or not they should initialize the war. Once Patrick has his chance to say his part he believes that they should fight because England hasn’t been fair. Patrick states this basically by saying “An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us”. This is such a powerful statement because what he’s proposing is extremely dangerous.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Devices In Patrick Henry's Speech

    800 Words  | 4 Pages

    Henry’s use of ethical appeal, logical and emotional appeals, as well as rhetorical devices, touched the audience. His persuasive techniques were the reason behind his exceptionally successful speech. The patriot strongly believed that the colonization of the British was a deadly virus that spread across the nation, killing the freedom of Americans. His goal was to stimulate action against the British forces by persuading the residents of Virginia that the only way to

    Read More

More about Logos In Patrick Henry's Speech

Open Document