Rhetorical Analysis Of A Speech In The Virginia Convention By Patrick Henry

President of the Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry, in his speech, Speech in the Virginia Convention.”, describes the current conflict between Great Britain and the thirteen colonies. Dalton purpose is to persuade the 13 delegates to go to war against Great Britain while using a fiery tone while speaking. Throughout his speech he uses many rhetoric appeals to convince the audience. Henry uses ethos, pathos, and logos throughout his essay as well rhetorical devices, rhetorical questions and allusions. One rhetoric appeal he uses is ethos.

On March 23, 1775 patriotic Patrick Henry gave a powerful persuasive speech to encourage the colonists to fight for liberty. Henry was born on May 29, 1736 in a farmhouse located in Studley, Virginia. Henry became the governor of Virginia, attorney, planter, and a politician. He was well know as a great orator during the movement for independence in Virginia. One of Henry’s most effective well known speech was held in St. John’s Church, Richmond, Virginia.

Henry's Appeal to the Virginia Convention In 1775, American Colonists were Satisfied about their relationship with Britain. Some people were still hoping that the colonists would work out the disagreements. Others, like Patrick Henry, thought the only thing left to do was to go to war with Britain. Patrick Henry was known for his speeches supporting the American Democracy.

Patrick Henry was a political leader during the American Revolution, who was educated from home. He gave a speech on March 23, 1775 at the Virginia Convention that has became a great part of history. Henry’s speech was considered to have started the American Revolution. His speech caused the House members to fight for their freedom; he showed them reasons why they shouldn’t want peace, but freedom. He took charge and gave a speech that went down in history.

The “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention”, was meant to persuade the American people that the British could not be reasoned with, and, therefore a war with the British was inevitable. This speech was a call to action, as Patrick Henry felt that Americans could no longer sit idly as a war began in the north. For Henry would rather have death than live without liberty. Henry spoke honestly in an attempt to gain followers that would join him in the war against Britain. In Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention”, used figures of speech, metaphors and similes, and rhetorical questions to persuade his audience to agree with his views on the war and the conditions of America.

“ Give me liberty or give me death”,( Patrick Henry). The most well known speech given by the prestigious Patrick Henry on March 23, 1775 expressing his thoughts and feelings about fighting back against Britain and protecting their beloved country. At this time the British was defeating America terribly which had made Patrick Henry feel as though his freedom was being jeopardized. Patrick Henry’s speech was an attempt to persuade the american citizens not to just sit and do nothing, he wanted to fight back against Britain. Patrick Henry felt as though many of the citizens were not aware of the seriousness of what was happening and that the needed to have a wake up call.

Despite some individual’s skeptical opinions about the influence that Patrick Henry's use of persuasion in "Speech to the Virginia Convention" had on the colonists, Henry's use of these techniques helped sway the colonists into pursuing their independence. Patrick Henry uses persuasion in his "Speech to the Virginia Convention" by appealing to reason and showing what was really happening. He uses the either-or method to influence the settlers into seeing that the only way of success was to fight. For example, he argued that the revolution was "nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery" (Henry 81).

Compare and Contrast Essay Freedom, equality, and success are all similar but different views in life. In Patrick Henry's speech “Speech to the Virginia convention” he talked about how he believed people could achieve these beliefs. In a like manner so did John F Kennedy in his “inaugural speech”. Both JFK and Patrick Henry viewed freedom, equality, and success in very similar but different ways.

Benjamin Franklin and Patrick Henry were two important people in American History who made a difference. Franklin’s “Speech in the Convention and Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention” helped guide our nation to independence and democracy. Both speeches have good examples of rhetorical devices, but I think Patrick Henry speech ‘Speech in the Virginia Convention” has better rhetorical devices. Some examples are rhetorical question, logos, diction, and imagery. Patrick Henry style and content is more effective then Benjamin Franklin because Patrick uses a plethora of things such as imagery, “There is no retreat but in submission and slavery!

Patrick Henry was a successful leader during the American Revolution. Also he was a governor. Henry gave many effective speeches during his lifetime. The speech that was most effective was the Speech in the Virginia Convention given on March 23, 1775. This speech used great examples of literary terms such as ethos, pathos, and logos to help make the speech more effective.

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