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Similarities Between Patrick Henry And Thomas Paine

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Patrick Henry’s speech is more effective than Thomas Paine’s speech because of his use of rhetorical devices. In Patrick Henry’s “The Speech at the Virginia Convention” he uses rhetorical questions and exclamations very well. In Thomas Paine’s “The Crisis” he is a bit too moderate in his speech to portray his point of view. “The Crisis” is very similar to “The Speech in the Virginia Convention” in a way that they are both trying to persuade Americans to fight for their independence. Patrick Henry gave “The Speech in the Virginia Convention” and Thomas Paine gave “The Crisis.” One similarity was that Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry were both patriots who would give their lives for their country. Thomas Paine says, “Tis the business of little …show more content…

When Patrick Henry said, “We must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us!” He uses many exclamations in his speech to come across to his audience’s emotions. In the contrer Thomas Paine comes across to his audience in a lower more relaxed way. He says, “None can say that our retreat was precipitate, for we were near three weeks in performing it, that the country might have time to come in.” They are both stating that they must fight, but Thomas Paine states it in a less aggressive way. Patrick Henry states it in a way of exclamation to get his audience’s attention and emotion. When Thomas is speaking to his audience he is using a less aggressive tone so no one can be offended by his speech. I believe Patrick Henry was there to speak his mind, and he was there to persuade the audience to fight with him. Another difference between these speeches was that Patrick Henry’s speech was written before the war, and Thomas Paine’s speech was written during the war. You can see when Patrick Henry says, “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?” He is clearly stating this before the war telling them they need to fight …show more content…

Patrick Henry made his audience want to go out and fight for their independence. Thomas Paine tried to not make anyone offended with his speech. He does not get as involved with the audience’s emotions as Patrick did. Patrick Henry gets on a personal level with his audience’s emotions. Thomas Paine’s speech was just a bit too relaxed, and it did not have enough emotion in it. Patrick Henry’s speech was also much easier to comprehend than Thomas Paine’s. Most of the time in “The Crisis” it was hard to understand where Thomas was going. He was calm in his speech. Patrick was very erodic with his sppech in a way that it was his, and it was everything he was feeling on the inside of his heart. With Patrick Henry’s superb use of rhetorical devices it became clear what he was trying to message the audience. A great use of rhetorical devices was when Patrick Henry said, “The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms!” Patrick is using exclamations in this way to show his audience his beliefs. Also, when he said, “Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have?” Patrick Henry is using rhetorical questions that helps the audience get into the

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