Use Of Ethos In Patrick Henry's Speech

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry is addressing the Virginia Convention, specifically President Peyton Randolph. He offers a solution to the patriots of Virginia to form a local militia in order to be ready to fight the British. Carrying a passionate and pleading tone, Henry urges to persuade the patriots

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

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.

He uses ethos to persuade the audience by saying "sir were not ewak", reference to God, the credibility when he talks about God. God is a more credible person than the king. Patrick henry uses questions towards the audience like "are fleets and armies necessary to work of love and reconciliation?" He gets the audience to believe that his decision is a good decision, and that he can bring any fight or war and win like it was nothng.

Patrick Henry, a Virginian lawyer, made himself known for the speeches supporting American democracy. He is known as the "Orator of Liberty." In 1775, American colonists were still under Great Britain’s power. Many were hoping to be able to work out their disagreements and remain British subjects. Patrick Henry had had enough of cooperating with the British. Henry believed the only solution left was to go to war with Britain. So he gives a speech to the Virginia Convention to plead his cause. In his speech he uses many different examples of ethos, pathos, and logos.

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.

In the years leading up to the American Revolution, there was a tense relationship between the colonists and their British rulers. Large gatherings in the colonies to discuss the grievances caused by the actions of the British were common. Patrick Henry applies the rhetorical strategies of allusions and repetition in his “Speech in the Virginia Convention” to assert that the colonists should believe fighting for their freedom and rights is necessary and that they must fight as soon as possible.

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. Patrick Henry just said that he believes they have to go to war with England. He believes that based off of all

I believe in the speech Patrick Henry reached ehis goal from the help use of his rhetorical techniques he uses throughout his speech. Authors that use many different kinds of rhetorical techniques often have a better speeches and prove their point with more evidence and well written thought out information. Patrick henry uses metaphor, logos, ethos, to persuade the Virginia lawmakers and citizens to go to war.

“ 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. Patrick Henry's speech was to connect to the audience and show then exactly how serious this issue is and he did that by using a lot of emotion. The most effective persuasive technique that Patrick Henry used in his famous “ Speech to the Virginia Convention” is pathos because it was used sufficiency throughout his speech.

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. Also, he is saying that if they give up, they

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.

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.

At the Virginia convention in 1774, the delegates such as Patrick Henry, gather to decide their course of action, in a time where their primary goal was to rid themselves of their oppressor, Great Britain. Patrick Henry addresses the other delegates and discloses his opinion on what course of action the people should take. In his speech at the Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry forcefully influences the audience to go to war with Great Britain through diction, figurative language and rhetorical devices and by confronting them with their current position of danger in the face of the inevitable British Invasion.

The revolutionary speeches composed of by Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine both have common goals in terms of the changes that they want made to the way of life for all Americans. The technique and manner in which the two conduct their speeches are significantly different, though. Patrick Henry’s speech is mainly to persuade the Virginia Convention to be more assertive toward the British government, and to prepare for war if the convention's voice was not acknowledged by them. Thomas Paine’s speech, “The Crisis: Number 1”, was also to written to persuade the American people. The speech’s main purpose is to persuade people to fight for their freedom.