What Is Literary Devices Used In Patrick Henry's Speech To The Virginia Convention

Patrick Henry’s speech to the Virginia Convention written and spoken by Patrick Henry raised the people 's attention. He spoke passionate words because he no longer wanted to be a slave to Britain.The men that attended the Virginia Convention realized that they needed to start fighting back after all the troubles the British caused. The British terrorized innocent people of America, even killed men, women, and children. In his speech he proposed resolutions to prepare the Virginia Colony for war and gave the speech to support those resolutions. His reasons for the speech were to convince the colonist, to try and maintain peace, to persuade war against Britain, and to show that he would be a good president. Patrick Henry’s speech was very effective regarding the Virginia Convention using ethos, pathos, and logos.

At a tense meeting in a church in Richmond, Virginia, away from the watchful eyes of Britain, Patrick Henry began to deliver a rousing speech to the Second Convention of Delegates. His passion was tangible to the audience as he called the delegates to action. His speech was memorable to everyone in the room and powerful in convincing the delegates to support the war. Little did he know that this speech would continue to be known for its power and persuasion for generations to come. Throughout Patrick Henry's speech, he emphasized the necessity to act against Britain and support the war, but he did so in a way that was unavoidably persuasive. Henry used emotional appeal, metaphors, and rhetorical questions in order to convince the delegates

Modern historians often claim that Patrick Henry tended toward demagoguery and propaganda in his 1775 Speech to the Second Virginia Convention. I agree with these modern historians on the basis of Henry’s constant use of emotional appeals (pathos) and rhetorical devices such as parallel syntax, allusions, and irony to name a few. While he did have ethical (ethos) and logical (logos) appeals, the majority of Henry’s word choice and sentence structure showed that his speech was made up of emotional appeals that included both demagoguery and propaganda.

In his speech during the Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry used a dynamic tone to express his ideas. He utilized the rhetorical technique of fallacy to persuade his audience into thinking that America’s independence was necessary for the good of the nation and its people. Henry takes advantage of fallacies such as the either or fallacy, fallacy of complex questions, appeal of consequence, and appeal to emotion to implement his ideas into the audience.

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.

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 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’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention” convinces Loyalists to wage war against Britain; he accomplishes this by using several rhetorical devices such as imagery, allusions, rhetorical questions, and diction. These devices are used to engage the listeners with descriptive images, get the listeners to think deeper, make connections to historical events, and use powerful words to emphasize certain claims.

Emotional appeals were used in both Bush’s and Henry’s speeches. In Bush’s speech, he reminds his audience of when Iraq attacked America at a moment of vulnerability a year before his speech was given. This surprise attack was brought up several times in his speech because of the emotion brought forth remembering the thousands of American lives taken during the Iraqi attack on September 11th, 2001. During this time an emotional appeal that refers to a recent event will get a strong reaction from the audience. In Henry’s speech, pathos is used to elicit values of freedom. Henry induces fear of slavery and steps on his audience's masculinity by saying: “They [Great Britain] tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable adversary.” “ Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?” Therefore, Bush and Henry both utilize pathos in their speeches; Bush uses pathos in a repetitive way to remind his audience of the recent past attacks on America by the Iraqi regime and Henry exercises pathos to induce fear into his audience and elicits values of

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

Writing to an audience that still lacks the desire to oppose the British, Patrick Henry in his "Speech to Virginia House of Burgesses" focuses on the rights of man and defying oppressors. Through figurative language, rhetorical questions, and diction, Henry heightens the necessity to rise up and fight against the British ruling power over the colonist population in Northern America.

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.

In the “Speech to the Virginia Convention,” Patrick Henry persuades the Loyalists to fight England. Through several main rhetorical devices, he uses allusions, diction, appeal to ethos, and rhetorical questions. With these strategies, gives the audience different perspectives on Patrick Henry’s speech. For example, allusions. He used that rhetorical device to give a visual image to his audience.

In 1775, Patrick Henry argues to the president and delegates of the Virginia Convention that the colonists should take up arms against the British. During this speech to the convention, Henry criticizes the leaders for ignoring the reality of the situation that the colonists are in, suggests that the previous methods of diplomacy have been ineffective, begs the convention to fight for their own freedom, and argues that the British did not want to negotiate. Henry is very urgent and confident with his remarks to the convention. Patrick Henry argues to the Virginia Convention that the colonists must fight the British due to many failed attempts at peace by discussing the potential danger they are in.