In the film Braveheart directed by Mel Gibson William Wallace is the main protagonist of this movie who is also played by Mel Gibson himself. William Wallace is a Scottish citizen who becomes a revolutionary because the King of England Edward the Longshanks seized the throne of Scotland since there was no heir to the late king. The speech I am writing about is William Wallace’s “They will never take our freedom” speech from the movie Braveheart which I believe is a very motivating and successful speech and here are certain examples why I believe William Wallace’s speech is very successful. This speech effectively motivates the Scottish soldiers to fight instead of flee. William Wallace is trying to motivate the soldiers to fight since most of them have doubts about surviving against the English army and would rather flee to live another day then to die on the battlefield. Throughout the speech William is riding on a horse in front of his men pacing back and forth on his horse as his men are lined up listening to him. He talks in a high tone and raises it higher towards the end of his speech to emphasize the seriousness of this revolutionary cause. Furthermore he pauses between …show more content…
Kills men by the hundreds, and if he were here he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his arse. I AM William Wallace” ( Dir. Mel Gibson. May 24 1995. DVD.). He corrects the soldier by stating he was William Wallace which helps him in his speech because many of the soldiers looked up to William Wallace as stated by the rumors said about him. William uses antimeatabole which is defined as reversal of words or phrases for repeated effect in his line that states “you have come to fight as free men and free men you are”( Dir. Mel Gibson. May 24 1995.
In Patrick Henry’s,“ Speech in the Virginia Convention,” he explains to the President as well as the government at the time on how a war with Britain is completely necessary in order to gain full independence for America. Henry uses a proud tone to inspire his audience, simple and complex sentence structure to convey straightforward details, patriotic and passionate diction to bring an uprising of emotion, and ethos to ethically support the main idea.
Patrick Henry’s speech is to persuade the audience to go to war with Great Britain. He does this flawlessly by using the following rhetorical strategies: imagery, repetition, and emotion including other rhetorical strategies, such as rhetorical
The Purpose of this speech is to gain support for a freedom movement from the British government. One can see this when he states, ?Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the
The fight for American independence was a long, arduous struggle, but many great literary works aided the battle. One such example is Patrick Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention”. Given in 1775 at the Virginia Provincial Convention, Henry aims to convince listeners of the futility of peace with Britain, and that they should join the efforts for the inevitable war. To accomplish this, Henry uses many different persuasive techniques and rhetorical devices. In Patrick Henry’s “Speech”, Henry uses techniques such as rhetorical questions, allusion, and emotional appeal to convey the point that the United States must rebel against Britain.
Through the use of the image of slavery, Henry managed to paint a clear picture of how the situation was, therefore, making it easier for him to emphasize the need for America’s independence. Also, Henry uses a change in the volume of his voice in his video speech to appeal to the emotions of his fellow delegates. Henry begins his speech in a normal tone of voice, but throughout the video, his voice gradually gets louder with time, and in the end, he shouts his concluding line, “give me liberty, or give me death!”[4] This gradual volume change in Henry’s voice enabled him to appeal to the feelings of his audience effectively, and eventually emphasize on his message of fighting for liberty.
Martin Luther King Jr. stated, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” This quote illustrates that people need to accept failure and learn from it and never lose pride in what you are doing. Patrick Henry relates to what Martin Luther says because he believes in the same kind of dedication. Henry is trying to convince the people and their president that they need to go to war with Great Britain, but he’s also trying to say that it's not going to be a peaceful war. He needs to get the people to follow what he says, so in his speech he uses a few different techniques to convince them. In Patrick Henry’s famous speech, “The Speech in the Virginia Convention,” he uses repetition, questioning, and allusions to enhance his idea to start war efforts with Great Britain.
4. Throughout the speech, Wallace emphasizes that he is not offering “banal platitude[s]” (paragraph 2) or “moral advice” (paragraph 12). Explain what he means by this. Do you think he successfully avoids these things? Explain.
Henry includes a passionate pathos appeal in his speech to fill the audience with much passion and emotion to make them want to join his fight. Towards the end of his writing, Henry states, “There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable and let it come!” (Henry 6). This piece of the speech uses a significant amount of emotionally charged language, as well as, emotionally charged punctuation. Through the immense amount of emotionally charged language and punctuation, these statements easily display a pathos appeal. Henry displays this information to ensure his audience knows that these unjust British actions are not going away. He also is including these statements, so that the audience knows that the British are preparing for war, and if the colonists do not prepare, then then Britain is simply going to crush them and going to make matters even worse. At the end of the speech, Henry mentions, “Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms!” (Henry 7). These statements easily display many emotionally charged words, along with a few emotional punctuations that show the use of the pathos appeal. Henry mentions this in his
Patrick Henry was an influential leader, from the 18th century, who delivered one of the most famous speeches in the United States. He was also a politician, with a strong sense of patriotism, leading to his support in the opposition of the British government. Before Independence Day, America was under the control of the British, and by 1774, the British Parliament started passing laws to tax colonists. However, Henry was remarkably against to the submission of British government. The patriot transformed the spirits of the colonists, and perhaps bringing America, itself, out of slavery through a speech, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.” This speech was given at the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia. Henry’s speech played an important role for the War of Independence, as well as, finding one of the principals of which America is founded upon, freedom.
Thomas Paine wrote a passage during the battle to gain independence from britain which is called “The Crisis” it was then used as a motivational speech to get the soldiers riled up for battle. It stated that freedom is not an easy accomplishment but in the end when the freedom is gained it will have been worth it. “Tyranny like hell, is not easily
While attempting to change the minds of members of the Virginia House of Burgesses, to whom he is speaking, Patrick Henry of various unsuccessful ways of protesting the oppressive British rule. Henry reveals coherently what he feels the next steps should be in regards to the British. Henry dexterously uses his diction to make his stance more convincing and more
He also uses allusion to help the audience connect with him by telling them that we need a war. A quote from his speech says "we are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts" (263). He means by that quote is that we don’t understanding that if we don’t start the war against the Britain they will take over our land, they will take our children to war, and they will destroy our land, so we have to open our eyes and see the truth in order to live and
This is an emotionally charged speech, “They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction?” (3). He is trying to inspire a group of men to go to war. That is never an easy task. Henry begins to use emotions to incite the delegates. He appeals to their fears of having the British completely controlling their lives and quartering soldiers in every home. One of the biggest grievances early colonial American had with the British was the quartering act, a law that forced colonists to provide barracks for British troops, that all the colonists were angry about. Henry brought up an issue that many Americans were passionate about, and used it to make people listen to his message. Henry constantly poses these questions “When shall we be stronger?” or “ Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house?” (3). He asks these questions to get his audience to
In less than an hour, the world will head on a course of total annihilation; what will you say to influence those willing to fight, to give them the morale they need to fight at their best and to save the world from human extinction. Within the science fiction movie Independence Day, the crucial character President Whitmore presents a speech to the military that is soon to launch the largest aerial battle in human history (Eidenmuller). This speech is meant to encourage the wide selection of soldiers which range from young, agitated rookies to hardy, experienced veterans who will be fighting against an alien invasion. There are major aspects that grant the persuasiveness that the speech is trying to achieve including the style and tone
6). The narrator was not looking forward to the battle due to not caring much for the other guys who would be fighting. Little did he know the other fighters would be the least of his worries, nor would they be the ones to prolong his opportunity to deliver his speech.