Patrick Henry Virginia Convention Speech Analysis

He used effective reasons and ways which makes this speech one of the

Using “we” and “us” made an impression that the deliberative part of the speech was not a statement made by an individual for a personal gain. Moreover, Kennedy also exhibited how he cared more about the unity of the country instead of his political career by creating a speech that did not even mention his current and potential political positions. Without knowing the chronological background of the speech, a general audience might not be able to know what was Kennedy’s specific political position and plan at the time of the speech. Yet, any audience will easily identify that the speaker of the speech was a leader who wanted his people to unite with compassion and

In the 1960s the African Americans were freed, but did they really have all the rights they were promised? Racial conflicts were everywhere. Lyndon B. Johnson was current president and was trying to encourage congress to pass a bill called The Voting Rights Act. To influence the vote he gave the speech “We Shall Overcome.” In “We Shall Overcome” President Lyndon Johnson used ethos, pathos, logos, and other rhetorical devices such as allusions, repetition and appeals to authority to persuade congress to pass the act.

In 1776, on July 4th, the 13 English colonies officially declared their freedom from England. However, as the years progressed, slavery became incorporated into everyday American life. In 1852, former slave Frederick Douglass gave a speech to celebrate America’s independence; however, instead of praising the country, he censured Americans for saying they were a “country of the free”. In the speech, Hypocrisy of American Slavery, Frederick Douglass declares that Americans should not be celebrating their freedom when there are slaves living in the country. To convince his audience that Americans are wrong celebrating freedom on the 4th of July when slavery exists in their country, he uses emotional appeal, ethical appeal, and rhetorical questions.

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech had a great deal of logos and pathos appeals to persuade his audience to speak out against segregation and to give all men the rights they deserve. He gave many reasons in his speech to make the audience excited and want to take action, like when he says: “This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”... America has defaulted on this promissory note, ... given the Negro people a bad check… which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” (King para. 4)

We all know Martin Luther King Jr. ,right? We know him as the man who gave the “I Have a Dream” speech. Which was a step in the civil rights movement to fight for African American rights. Well, besides that monumental speech, he also wrote “Letter From Birmingham Jail”.

The “I Have a Dream” affected millions and used many ways to grab at the crowd. Dr. King used logic appeals such as analogies in this speech. In the speech, Dr.King says that America is a “bank of injustice” and African Americans are waiting to cash “the check of freedom and security.” This is a logical appeal because he is using this to reach into readers mind but not grabbing at their emotions. This is just one example of how King used logic in his speech but, the letter had more examples of this type of appeal.

The speech, “The Black Revolution”, uses many examples such as agitation, propaganda, rhetorical schemes, and alliteration. The main idea of the speech he presented to onlookers at a church called Abyssinian Baptist Church, was to target the audience’s emotions. Using rhetorical devices, he was able to engage in their emotions; this method was very effective. His speech spoke about the international affairs happening around the 1960’s.

Abraham Lincoln made his speech persuasive by using a lot of figurative language like repetition, and by using a lot of pathos styled techniques. One of the ways he made his speech persuasive to people is by using repetition. “We CANNOT” is the main one example that president Abraham Lincoln used. He used this quote to really emphasize the thing we cannot do to make this country great and to make sure all people, no matter the color nor the race, shall always be free.

Many people listen to him and use him as a source of hope to fight against racial issues. He is a symbol to African Americans as Wapshott stated, "Africans found a particularly poignant message in King’s plea for racial tolerance and his declaration that “the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” " His speech put forth the harsh realities African Americans face and wants to fight against them. King realizes that his people are wrongly treated and that they should not be put into separate schools and bathrooms just because of the color of one's skin. The beauty of King's speech is that he did not incite violence to fight against the horrible treatment of African Americans as he explained, "Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to

Fatimah alhabib King’s main point King have many point he would to give people. In paragraph 2-3, king wants to remind us of the decree from one years ago. That decree made by a great America and even in that time has decree for freedom to slave, there was a slave still not free, they were still poor between wealthy societies. In paragraph 6, king said he and all people there, they come to remind America of the urgency. In addition, king wants to urge his audience to not be quiet and take that steep of demonstration for freedom like gradualism, he encouraged audience to take a fast steep from the dark into sunlit path.

A person can only be as independent as their thoughts and actions allow them to be. During the time period of the Puritans, the idea of conformity and obedience was valued in their society. Soon after, the philosophy of Deism came about and they started to value the idea of free thought and independence more than the orthodox view of the Puritans. Finally, the age of Transcendentalism arose which appreciated the idea of individuality and hard work more than any other belief. Throughout the major literary philosophies in the United States, one can see how there was a social shift from conformity to individualism.

In Patrick Henry's speech to the Second Virginia Convention, he uses a metaphor to compare the conflict between the colonists and Britain to a storm. He talks about everything the colonists have already done to resolve the tension with Britain. Henry then tries to convince those listening to his speech that fighting is their only option

Dumping 342 containers of tea into the Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773 was just the beginning of the rebellion against paying taxes to Great Britain. As the author and orator of the “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention,” Patrick Henry fights against being “slaves” to Great Britain. Henry utilizes rhetorical strategies such as, ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade Virginia to start the American Revolution. To show the audience that he has credibility, Patrick Henry starts his speech with, ”No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House” (Henry 1). He tells the audience that he has incredible patriotism for the colonies and that there are worthy gentlemen that have the ability to fight for our country.

After the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord, many people were indecisive about which side to support in the Revolutionary war. Delegates from the colonies came together to decide whether to break away from Great Britain or reconcile with them. The thirteen colonies were split into three groups, patriots, who supported breaking away from the English crown, loyalists, who supported the king, and undecided people. At the delegation people would give speeches advocating for both sides of the conflict, one of these people was Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry uses pathos, his audience's sense of patriotism, and ethos, calling Britain and its king a tyrant, in his speech to arouse support for the efforts of the patriots in breaking away from Great Britain.