Patrick Henry

1
Patrick Henry

• Read his biography on page 99.

2
Speech to the Virginia Convention

• Read the speech as we listen to it.
• Look for how Henry is trying to persuade his
  audience
• What is he appealing to ethos, pathos, logos
• What techniques is he using?

3
Techniques

• Repetition, Parallelism
• Rhetorical Questioning
• Comparisons Metaphors, Similes, Analogies

4
Repetition

• Tried to petition the British for better
  treatment ten years(101 102)
• We must fight! (102)
• War Let it come! (103)
• Slavery
• Light
• Tyranny

5
Parallelism

• We have petitioned we have remonstrated, we
  have supplicated we have prostrated ourselves
  (102)
• Our petitionsour remonstrancesour
  supplications (102)
• the vigilant, the active, the brave (103)
• give me liberty or give me death(103)

6
Comparisons

• Seeing Clearly Lamp of Experience (101),
  Lights(101 102)
• Description of Great Britain tyranny,
  tyrannical, insidious
• Imagery of Slavery those chains, bound us
  hand and foot, submission and slavery, chains
  and slavery

7
Rhetorical Questioning

• What means this martial array, if its purpose be
  not to force us to submission?(102)
• Shall we gather strength by irresolution and
  inaction? (102)
• Why stand we here idle?(103)
• What is it that gentlemen wish?(103)

8
Concessions

• Concession admitting or acknowledging the other
  side as having a true, just, or proper argument

9
Refutations

• Refutation Denial of the truth/accuracy of the
  other side. Concession But, However,
  Although

10
Refutations

• Opponents argue that British have innocent
  motives for building up their military.
• Henry argues that they do not have any enemies in
  this part of the world other than the colonies
  Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of
  the world, to call for all this accumulation of
  navies and armies? No sir, she has none (102).

11
Refutations

• Opponents argue that they should try to negotiate
  with the British
• Henry argues that they already have and that all
  of the petitions have been spurned by the
  British. We have petitioned we have
  remonstrated we have supplicated we have
  prostrated ourselves before the throne (102).

12

• ETHOS ETHICS
• Use of we shall not fight our battles alone.
  There is a just God (103).

13

• PATHOS EMOTION
• Images of slavery, mistreatment

14

• LOGOS LOGIC
• Refutations Armies of Great Britain formed
  against the colonies, petitions denied

15
Credits

• Patrick Henry picture comes from
  http//orrinwoodward.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives
  /2007/11/27/3378097.html