Metaphors In Patrick Henry's Speech

Patrick Henry adresses the delegates at the Convention of Virginia (1776) in his speech titled, “Give me Liberty or Give me Death!” Henry develops his claim by speaking candidly with a dramatic tone. He strengthens his credibility through his use and application of a ceremonious diction, and his syntax perfectly fits the occasion. In the speech he hopes to induce delegates into seceding from Great Britain to take arms against the English.

Henry is asking his audience if they would rather live a peaceful life of slavery or a life of freedom on their own terms. This rhetorical question is impactful because Henry”s audience is afraid of slavery, they don’t like the idea of being controlled by anyone. They know what the lives of their own slaves are like and they fear being put in that position. This makes the audience want to heed Henry's advice and go to war against Great Britain.

Patrick Henry was born in virginia in 1736. He was a lawyer and a politician who encouraged the separation from great britain, by delivering the “Speech to the virginia convention” on March 23 1775, 3 week before the actual war. He was a powerful speaker whose words helped sweep the colonist towards their Declaration of Independence. Rhetorical devices and rhetorical appeals are ways that the writer draws you into the reading. By using ethos pathos and logos, the author finds ways to entregue everyone in different ways.

Patrick henry was known for his advanced use of rhetorical questions and use of literary devices. His vocabulary and strategies in speech changed the country for the greater good. In the virginia convention patrick henry tries to explain that colonies should claim independence and leave england. He shows his ideas by using imagery and rhetorical questions which was very effective and persuaded many people. His idea of war being necessary sounded reasonable since to others too especially since riots and had occurred due to the safety and protection of the colonies. Patrick persuaded just by using his words which resulted in a affective outcome.

The use of rhetorical analysis is very useful to make works appealing and contribute effectively to the author’s purpose. They are used in Patrick Henry’s extemporaneous speech “Give Me Liberty, or Give me Death.” Henry, a revolutionary leader, made this speech at the meeting of the Virginia convention on March 23, 1775. The purpose of this speech was to persuade the delegates of the convention and colonists to form a militia and start war against the British to declare independence. This speech Patrick Henry uses parallelism, pathos, and allusion to persuade the Virginia delegates to go to war against Britain.

One of the best ways to persuade an audience is through emotion. Henry uses pathos to appeal to many sentiments, one of the most effective being fear. When the British militia starts quartering in American households, Henry knows that the situation needs to be stopped before it is too late. He writes that the British are “sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains…”. Henry alarms the colonists that if action is not taken soon, the Great Britain will gain the advantage. Patrick Henry also plays on the colonists overwhelming fear of becoming slaves. Henry threatens that the colonists will become exactly what they hate if they just stand by idle. He writes that it is “nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery…”. Henry uses this to scare the colonists into action and persuade them to take a stand against the British.

Patrick uses this to affect the feeling of the audience by presenting this evidence because he calls them “warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land.” The use of the words “cover” and “darken” connote an image of suffocation, death, and total imprisonment. Continuing, Mr. Henry stated, “They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other”(Henry) which emphasizes the military preparations which the British are taking while using a balanced sentence with parallel independent clauses which repeat that same point. He ends the paragraph with a metaphor comparing the build-up of armies and navies to “chains” which the British will “bind” and “rivet.” This creates an effect on pathos through the imagery of imprisonment created through the metaphor. In the next paragraph, Henry presents more opposing arguments with his refutation. The opposing arguments are asking the colonists to try and argue with the British with entreaty and humble supplication. Henry refutes these arguments by saying that they have already tried all of these strategies to no avail. Henry’s rhetorical pattern throughout these paragraphs is presenting the opposing arguments through rhetorical questions and then to respond to some of the rhetorical questions with

Throughout history, historical events have been relived and experienced by many in the present day through various scriptures and texts. From shocking testimonies, and inspirational speeches to intriguing journal entries, and questionable declarations, literature has allowed society, no matter the time, to go back and learn about past events that helped define the present society. Through these pieces of literature and their literary devices, readers are able to immerse themselves into the past by exposing themselves to historical figures’ persuasions and intentions through their creations. One of these pieces of literature that demonstrates these qualities is Patrick Henry’s Address to the Virginia Convention written in 1775. In Patrick Henry’s speech, he uses literary devices, such as diction, tone and syntax, to help the readers understand and relate to the author’s purpose in calling the Virginia Convention to action for one of the most historical moments in United Stated history, the American Revolution. The author uses these literary devices to persuade and encourage rebellious behavior in the audience, by creating a unifying, inspirational and rebellious tone to get them to support America’s impending fight for freedom, liberty and independence from British oppression.

Patrick Henry utilizes rhetorical devices throughout his “Speech in the Virginia Convention” to advocate the fact that the thirteen colonies must approach Britain with violence in order to secede successfully from Britain’s absolute power over Americas independency.

Patrick Henry, in his speech to those gathered at the Virginia Convention and president Peyton Randolph, explains how the United States needs to fight in the Revolutionary War. Henry supports his statement by describing how important it is to answer the call for war. The author’s purpose is to emphasize how the war is inevitable in order to convince the president that they should definitely fight in it. Henry speaks in an inspirational and patriotic tone to those listening in on his speech. He establishes many rhetorical strategies to influence the president's decision including rhetorical questions, anaphora, and repetition. Henry emphasizes how the war cannot be avoided and tries to inspire the audience to fight in the war by addressing the

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry, a Patriotic delegate, in his anti-Britain speech entitled “Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention”, he argues for the independence of America from Britain. He supports this claim by first saying that just taking and petitioning to Britain will not get us anywhere, then questioning the motives of Britain for stationing forced in America, and finally calling for America to wage war with Britain and attain independence. Through Henry’s use of realistic tone, rhetorical appeals and rhetorical tools he effectively persuades the other delegates to stop wishing for peace that will never come and declare American independence for Britain. Patrick Henry’s empowering and unifying tone strengthens the nation’s

At the Virginia Convention in 1775, Patrick Henry delivered a speech to the president and the delegates at the convention expressing his opinion on the colonies relationship with Great Britain. Henry’s purpose when delivering this speech was to persuade the men at the convention to go to war with Great Britain in order to gain independence from them, which will ultimately allow the colonists to gain more freedom. Patrick Henry uses metaphors and rhetorical questions in his speech to the Virginia Convention in order to persuade the president and delegates to rebel against and go to war with Great Britain. Patrick Henry uses metaphors as literary devices in order to inform his audience of the problems with Great Britain and in order to attempt

“Give me liberty or give me death!”, Patrick Henry shouts to those attending the Virginia Convention in 1775. This “Speech to the Virginia Convention”, given one year before the colonies declared war on Great Britain, was an attempt by Henry to inspire the colonists to rebel against the oppressive rule of England and fight to save their freedom. Patrick Henry persuades the Convention to wage war against the British through his use of rhetorical questions and allusions.

Henry appeals to this very effectively when he lists, “We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne…” (Henry). The repetition of “we have” represents the actions the colonists have taken to get the British to respond to some of their demands. The parallel structure indicates that all actions are equally important, but they become more emphatic as the list goes on. The parallel structure of the final line of Henry’s speech, “…give me liberty or give me death!” shows the equivalence of the two subjects, liberty and death. He again states that one or the other will occur, and no compromise is possible. At this point, the people of Virginia carry massive respect towards Patrick Henry and are persuaded by his appeals and strategies. He gives the audience a chilling impact on the war. Henry points out that everyone is in it together and more specifically, he will be in it until death. He is very passionate about his ideas and will stand behind them until death does him apart which gives him more credibility; therefore, persuading the audience a great