Rhetorical Analysis Of The Virginia Convention By Johnathan Edwards

Patrick Henry uses pathos in order to enact a feeling of pride from the colonists. Consequently, he is able to make colonists surrender their trust towards the British by using pathos in his speech. This is accomplished by him saying, “Trust it not ,sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer

What reasons does Henry offer to suggest that the British were not worthy of trust at that time?

Throughout the entire speech, he creates emotion that affects the audience. He created emotion throughout the speech by using other rhetorical strategies, such as repetition, imagery, rhetorical questions, and allusions. By using repetition, he made the audience feel some guilt. In the repetition “Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves” creates the guilt-feeling towards the audience, because if Henry were right about Great Britain, then the audience would be in fault for not going to war with Great Britain. By using imagery, the images of an “insidious smile”, “delusive phantoms of hope”, and slavery and chains, creates an unpleasant image to the mind making the audience feel angry, empty, and fearful. Henry uses many rhetorical questions. The use of the rhetorical questions is a question that can only be answered with one right answer. This is because the question being asked is the truth. Sometimes the truth can be hard to hear and accept. As Henry asks these questions, “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?” he evokes fear towards the audience and perhaps anger. He also uses biblical allusions in the speech. He does this to create some credibility but also to provoke some trust from the audience. When Henry mentions God or the biblical allusion it comforted or delighted the audience to know that God is a role in his speech. Although Henry uses repetition, imagery, rhetorical questions, and allusions, he incorporated emotion to those three other rhetorical strategies used.

Finally, what I consider the most powerful technique Henry uses is the fallacy of appealing to emotion. Henry talks about various actions that the colonists have already taken to protest the English government, such as, “We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated…” By doing so, the audience is reminded of all these things that have been done, only to realize that they have failed. Henry “reveals” that the English government has only denied them and turned them down each time. “Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned…” This quote builds up anger in the audience, creating great contempt for the British. The colonists start to feel as though the British have no intention to care about them and will take advantage of Americans every chance they get.

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.

Jonathan uses Pathos by emphasizing how he sees sinners within “Sinners In The Hands of An Angry God”, creating a fear amongst the audience. Edwards suggests that “hell opens its mouth wide to receive them” (5) which is a way how Edward thinks that sinners could be rid of. The statement, which contained personification influenced the appeal to Pathos with saying “hell” could open its mouth and eat something, the imagery in this statement helped improve the audience’s emotion towards sinners and John’s feelings towards sinners, using the anger that Edwards has for sinners further supports the element of Pathos.

First, one should focus on the language and Henry's ethos. The soldiers are burdened with the thought of a

When he speaks to the colonists he says, “listen to the song of the siren till she transforms us into beasts”. Patrick Henry used this allusion referring to the colonists as the ones who were being deceived by the British and would eventually lose their battle against them. In addition to the delusion of the colonists, he proclaimed that the colonists were in complete denial of the extent of the mistreatment and inequality that was being embedded on them as he said, “Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?”. Patrick Henry used allusions to compare the horrid circumstances the colonists were under to past relatable

The prominent patriot Patrick Henry once said, “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” (Henry 7) implying that a life without liberty is not a righteous life. Henry’s quote is included in his popular oratory “Speech to the Virginia Convention.” While discussing with the colonists, Henry lists all of the discrepancies the thirteen colonies had with Great Britain, concluding that there is no other option, but to retaliate instantaneously. In Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention,” he utilizes amplifying loaded words and coherent parallelism in order to influence the assembly to unify and reciprocate.

Henry is trying to get people to join the revolution and fight against Britain. He uses pathos because he inspires anger, trust, outrage, and fear by using the quote, "suffer yourself not to be betrayed with a kiss" (Patrick Henry).

“Give me liberty, or give me death!” is a quotation attributed to Patrick Henry, which he used to close his speech to Virginia Convention. During this time period, the 1770s, Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson all made arguments in favor of separation of the American colonies from Great Britain; many of these appeals were persuasive for different reasons, whether that be logical, emotional, or pertaining to credibility and trust, which is to say logos, pathos, and ethos. First of all, we will examine Henry’s arguments during his speech at the Virginia Convention. Then, we will identify Paine’s appeals in a part of his essay, The Crisis n1. Lastly, we will evaluate Jefferson’s myriad of arguments in a part of his Autobiography.

Context and quote- Henry makes an allusion to Homer’s Odyssey during his speech in the Virginia Convention. “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” (81).

There are many times Patrick Henry uses an emotional appeal in this speech. Many of those times it’s explaining what the British can or plan on doing if they don’t take a stand. For example, “Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with these

“Give me liberty or give me death!” This statement from Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention,” delivered to the House of Burgesses, has been quoted by many, becoming almost cliché. However, the declaration is truly understood by a select few. The unjust Stamp Act passed by the British crown in 1765, brought fame and notoriety to Henry as he spoke out against the unjust taxation without representation. Ten years later on the eve of revolution, Henry calls upon the Colonial government of which he is part, to act for the betterment of the people. Patrick Henry attempts to persuade the House of Burgesses to revolt and declare war against Britain by logically convincing them that it is their natural right to be free and calling on

Instead of having them question something, he bashes them with fear of being damned to hell, and practically forces his own views on his congregation. Henry uses an exact opposite approach. He asks his listeners many rhetorical questions, such as “Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation?” and “Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies?” Through this, Henry is able to get his listeners to see his side of the situation, and is able to persuade their views on Britain.