Patrick Henry Rhetorical Devices Essay

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.

First, Patrick Henry, author of “Speech in the Virginia Convention”, uses allusions and rhetorical questions to convince his

In the year 1775, the American colonies are at a crossroads. With no ideas on how to move forward, or how to break away from British control, colonists look towards a leading figure to guide the way. This figure comes in the form of Patrick Henry, a well-known American attorney who was willing to be the starting face of the revolution. With colonial tensions rising, many are willing to rebel against the newly implanted taxes imposed by the British. In his “Speech to the Virginia Convention”, Patrick Henry shows that he is willing to do anything to break away from English control. His strong use of persuasion and rhetoric make the Virginia Convention think about the possibility of rebelling against the British. With the revolution starting only ten years later, many argue that Henry’s speech was the spark to start it all. Through pathos, ethos and logos, Patrick Henry is able to make motivate the colonists to unite against the inconsiderate acts of the British government.

Would America be the same country if it was not for some of our founding fathers and their contributions? If you take Patrick Henry out of the equation, the answer could very well be, ‘Yes’. Patrick Henry played a very prominent role in the success of America’s independence. Along with Thomas Jefferson and Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry helped create the Virginia House of Burgesses to resolve the tumultuous state of the colonies. In the early spring of 1775, Patrick Henry met with members of the second Virginia Convention to discuss the need for a military mobilization against the British. Henry spoke to fellow citizens of Virginia in Richmond at what is now St. John’s Church. He spoke with intimacy, fervor, passion, and showed an undeniable support to fight against the English government. His use of ethos, pathos, and logos effectively persuaded opponents and supporters of the Revolution to unite and fight British tyranny for American independence.

March 23, 1775 a group of Virginian delegates gathered in St. John’s Church in Richmond to discuss the ever looming war with the English crown. It was in this Church where Patrick Henry would deliver one of the most influential speeches in the history of America. “Give me Liberty or Give Me Death” (3). He exclaimed to the sound of thunderous applause, he was trying to inspire a nation to rebel against their British oppressors. His speech was given two weeks before the revolution began and is accredited to inspiring the nation to take up arms and rebel. His appeals to emotion and logic make this a powerful and inspiring speech.

Addressing the Virginia Convention and President Peyton Randolph of the Continental Congress, Patrick Henry gives a speech affecting the audience’s minds and causing them to question their beliefs. In this passionate and interrogative discourse, Henry, former governor of Virginia, respectfully introduces his opinions on what action to take in regards to the conflict with Britain. The other members of the convention desire to peacefully approach the situation, but Patrick Henry differs as he wants to assemble preparations for war under the circumstance that Britain does not succeed the colonists’ demands. He accomplishes his desired effect on the audience due to his rhetorical use of allusions, pathos, and syntax.

“I know not what others may choose but, as for me, give me liberty or give me death” (Henry). These famous words were delivered by the young Virginia representative, Patrick Henry, on March 23rd of 1775. He was a driving force in the upbringing of America and his use of pathos greatly influenced the nation’s future. Similar to most American politicians of the time, he was highly antagonistic towards British control in the colonies, and thus feared that if U.S. forces were not armed against them, the future of the nation would be in peril. In Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention”, he utilizes pathos as a tool to aide him in persuading the Virginia Assembly to prepare America’s troops for battle against the British by evoking trepidation and concern from within his audience.

Patrick Henry Speech is more effective compared to Daniel Leonard Deplores pamphlet as he is able to present his view through rogerian and effective rhetorical choices. One of the many things Henry do better is listening to the other side and not belittling what they have to offer aiming more for a satisfactory closing as he tries to bring in his audience using “we”, and ‘us”  and making them understand his viewpoint. Asking the audience actual meaningful questions for example like “Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house?” affecting the pathos of those who are does not want to be affected by the war and making his claim that we must fight even stronger. The use of rhetorical choices

Rhetoric is a significant part of our everyday lives. Whether it's convincing our friends to go to a concert on the weekend, to go to a certain place for lunch, or even convincing yourself to do something that you should but don't want to do. Rhetoric is all around us today. Billboard ads, television commercials, newspaper ads, political speeches, even news stories all try, to some degree, to sway our opinion or convince us to take some sort of action. If you take a step back to look and think about it, rhetoric, in all actuality, shapes our lives. Every day we have an array of options of things to do or things to buy. So every day, our opinion or actions are being influenced, however minutely, by rhetoric.

Rhetoric appeals is something that we use in our everyday life and sometimes without even knowing it. Sometimes it can be hard to tell which rhetoric appeals are being used by the speaker, but once you can identify them you cans see how the speaker is trying to persuade you based on what rhetorical appeal they are using. Many writers have use rhetorical appeals as a way to make make the audience feel what they feel, in an act to persuade them to once side. That can be seen a lot in persuasive writing.

Without the use of rhetorical devices, writers would be lost. There would be no way for them to pull the reader into what they have to say. John F. Kennedy sure knew how to woo people with his words and thank goodness he did. If he didn't have rhetorical devices, Kennedy never would have been able to get the message of what he was trying to achieve across to his readers and listeners and probably never would have gained as much support as he did. Rhetorical devices not only make a piece of writing sound better, but

Rhetoric gives you an avenue to tell a story from your perspective in a way that connects with the intended audience without having to be one hundred percent substantiated. This writing style is evident in almost everything we read from billboards to Internet ads and even political speeches.

Rhetorical techniques are used in all good speeches, whether live or in text. These techniques are used to make a better delivery to the audience. An example of such a speech is found in Pulitzer prize winning To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. In Chapter 20, a character, Atticus Finch, makes a closing statement to the Jury regarding a case that is controversial in the fictional southern town/county of Maycomb. Finch talks about society’s construct and how it may wrongly affect the outcome of the case, lest the Jury let it. Finch (Lee) uses rhetorical techniques throughout the speech to persuade the Jury (reader) and by doing so, he (she, the author) sends a powerful message.

Patrick Henry uses many oratorical devices in his speech (Speech in the Virginia Convention). He uses them throughout his speech to reinforce the main subject (Independence). The speech was not influential at first, but as time progressed it became more and more popular to the colonist. Rhetorical questions and repetition are the most commonly used oratorical devices in his speech, but restatement and parallelism can also be found in the speech. Oratorical devices are used as a technique to emphasize a point, in this case independence.

The use of rhetoric is prevalent in today’s society; especially in news articles and political statements. Rhetoric is useful to convince the audience of a particular fact, or convince others to see from a different perspective.