Comparing Politician Patrick Henry's Speech To The Virginia Convention

Patrick Henry uses a loud, respectful tone to show that he was serious using ethos. He was respectful while he addressed the House, In the speech he states “No man thinks more highly than I do of patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the house. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefor I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do, opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely, and without reserve.” He did not

Loaded language consists of words with positive or negative connotation. “America is a friend to the people of Iraqi”(Bush)- an example of loaded language. Bush implies that we are friends with Iraqi, making America appear as the good guy and Iraqi appear hostile for threatening a “friend”. Relative to Bush’s speech, Patrick Henry states “we have been spurned with contempt from the foot of the throne”(Henry). America has been harshly rejected by the throne after multiple kind attempts to remove themselves from Britain. The loaded language in both pieces reveal the opposing force as harsh and cruel.

The most obvious way President Reagan delivers rhetoric to his audience is through his own ethos. Ronald Reagan wasn’t just your average president; he was a communicator. Reagan started his career as a sports announcer and continued on as an actor, which led to his later career in state and national politics. By the time President Reagan had delivered his address, the president had been in the spotlight his entire career and was looked up to worldwide. He had established an extrinsic ethos well before delivering this speech. By being the president of the free world, Reagan’s audience

Most people know the famous line “Give me liberty or give me death;” some people apprehend the concept of where that line came from, less understand that it was impelled to persuade the colonists to secede from Britain and even fewer comprehend that a major key to enticed the colonist was the use of rhetorical devices. Patrick Henry sways his audience in "Speech in the Virginia Convention" to fight Britain by using several rhetorical devices. The first rhetorical devices he uses, ethos, helps him gain the audiences’ trust by speaking highly of them and with respect. The second rhetorical device he adapts is allusion, in which he applies a euphemism to form a connection with his audience. The third rhetorical device he uses is pathos, which he employs to make a

    431 BCE was the year that the end of the Peloponnesian war. A great amount of lives of Athenians were lost, and the city of Athens held a public funeral to keep up with the traditions. At these funerals, a citizen was chosen to give a speech at this event. And happen so, Pericles was chosen to give at this funeral oration, not knowing that it would become one of the most famous speech of all time. Future world leaders would use his speech to inspire their own, including Abraham Lincoln’s “The Gettysburg Address”.  Even though, they may be both addressing the people of their nations to keep fighting and mourn the lives lost in these battles, there are differences of how they used rhetorical analysis in their speeches.

A classical Greek philosopher Plato once said: “Rhetoric is the art of ruling men.” In 1775, Patrick Henry delivered a prominent speech, “Speech in the Virginia Convention,” that encompassed rhetorical strategies and Aristotelian appeals. Like Plato stated, Henry used these strategies to his advantage to convince the legislators of Virginia to claim war against Britain. Henry bluntly used rhetorical questions, pathos, and ethos to evoke train of thought and feelings to those at the Virginia convention. This famous speech is potentially one of the main the reasons why the colonies claimed war on Britain, all thanks to Henry’s use of the “art of ruling men.”

Patrick Henry once stated,”If this be treason, make the most of it!” When saying this he meant if the people are to act out, they should act out very boldly. March 23rd, 1775, in St. John’s Church, Richmond, Virginia, Patrick Henry gave the “Speech in the Virginia Convention which was a very persuasive speech. His goal when giving that speech was to convince his audience to fight in the Revolutionary war upon them, which is an act of treason, for their freedom. In the “Speech in the Virginia Convention” Patrick Henry built a flawless argument through rhetorical questions, allusions, and repetition, persuading his audience radically, to join the Revolutionary war.

Tone is the attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience and is often conveyed through word choice. Henry and Bush utilize a serious tone throughout their writings. The famous line of Henry’s speech, “give me liberty, or give me death!” elucidates a sense of seriousness. The issue is a serious matter to Henry and becomes between freedom and death.

Individuals that could be described as icons in their respective countries have delivered speeches meant to change their thinking pattern and inspire change. In the course of doing this, these icons have employed rhetoric devices and figurative language unbeknown to some of their listeners. Tommy Douglas and Martin Luther King Jr. did these to much effect. The general idea is that application of rhetoric devices always serves a purpose. Some may argue that application of more rhetoric devices or less rhetoric devices is useful. However, this paper shows that despite the small or full application of rhetoric devices, if done correctly will always serve its purpose. Douglas’s Mouseland and King’s I have a Dream speeches are both persuasive speeches even though the former uses one predominant literary device, while the latter combines multiple devices. The objective of this paper is to show that no application of rhetoric devices – whether in large or small magnitude or whether in combination or sole use – is superior or secondary to another if applied appropriately.

Speeches have been an effective way for someone to share their thoughts and opinions about topics for years. Have they continued to be successful due to changes in the way that they are given, or is it because modern-day orators have continued to use some of the same speech techniques? To determine the answer, a comparison of an old political speech to a contemporary political speech would be required. In both speeches, Speech in the Virginia Convention and We are not Afraid, both Patrick Henry and Hillary Clinton use allusion, restatement, and parallelism to effectively state their views.

Almost every successful orator, or public speaker, uses the art of rhetoric to influence his or her audience.  If it is used correctly, the use of rhetorical devices such as logos, ethos and pathos can be very beneficial while trying to persuade a large audience.   During The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, Antony and Brutus both give speeches to a crowd of Roman citizens.  Antony uses the art of rhetoric correctly, therefore his speech was more influential than Brutus’s speech was.

In my study into the way rhetoric is used by politicians, specifically, J.F Kennedy, my attention will be focused on how language is used to control, persuade and influence.

Since the dawn of man the use of speech has been used to make others feel the same way as the speaker. For example Patrick Henry wrote the speech “Speech To The Virginia Convention” before the the Colonies break away from great Britain. He talked about the injustices done to the colonists and gave several reasons why the Colonies should go to war with Britain. In an attempt to persuade the delegates to vote in his favor. Another similar situation was when George W. Bush wrote the speech “President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat” where he tried to persuade congress to go to war with Iraq. These two persuasive speeches use similar Pathos, Logos, and Ethos Rhetoric.

Rhetoric language plays an important role in how politicians relay their message to the people. When one talks in rhetoric, it resonates with the common people. It allows the average person to stay focused and gives them a better understanding of the topic. President Barack Obama In the State of the Union Address employs similar rhetoric language as Senator George McGovern in the 1972 ad “This Time” in order to promote their political views and persuade the common people to value their ideas.