Rhetorical Analysis Of Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry made a name for himself with his outstanding speeches towards the American democracy supporting their ideas. Henry was known as the “Orator of Liberty”. In 1775, American colonists were undecided and unsure of their relationship with Great Britain. Many were still hoping to work out the disagreements. Other, like Henry, believed differently and wanted to go to war with Britain. Patrick Henry speaks to his fellow Virginian patriots at the Virginia Convention. In the speech Henry portrays different types of rhetoric devices. Ethos meaning credibility, pathos meaning emotions, and logos meaning logic or to really think about something. These rhetoric appeals create a more persuading and reasonable background to this speech. First, …show more content…
“I have but one lamp which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience.” “Shall we try argument? Sir we have been trying that for the last ten years.” These two excerpted lines from Patrick Henry’s speech gives a clear definition of logos. These quotes explain and require the reader to use their logic or for them to really think about the situation. Patrick means for the audience to look back on everything we tried or done and the conclusions are nothing has changed. Everything has been done, even the nicest ways to negotiate with the enemy and none of that has been successful. Henry uses logos thoroughly think about the problems they are facing and to think about what was done in the past and has not helped anything. In conclusion, within Patrick Henry’s speech at the Virginia Convention he portrays a list of examples for the rhetorical appeals ethos, pathos, and logos. Whether it was a quote that brought you to tears, or a line that made you think in the deepest depth of your mind Patrick Henry shows his belief and determination of going to war with Britain. Henry concludes his speech b saying, “Give me liberty, or give me death.” Doesn’t that pull at your heart’s