Speech at the Virginia Convention

RHETORICAL DEVICES

Speech in the Virginia Convention• Patrick Henry (1736-1779)• “The Orator of Liberty”• Lawyer• One of the earliest opponents of British rule in the American colonies• After the revolution, served as governor of Virginia and a state

legislator

• “Speech in the Virginia Convention”• Peace is no longer an option• Turned colonists against British Rule• One month after the giving the speech, the Revolutionary War began

What is rhetoric?• On your notes page, write down a definition of

rhetoric. If you are unsure, take a guess.

• “The art or skill of speaking or writing formally and effectively especially as a way to persuade or influence people” – Merriam Webster• Rhetorical devices are structures within language that appeal to

readers and communicate ideas.• In other words, rhetorical devices make you want to listen.

Rhetorical Devices• Rhetorical Question – Questions with no expected answers.• ex. “But when shall we grow stronger?”

• Antithesis – Expresses contrary ideas in parallel grammatical structure• ex. “Give me liberty or give me death.”

• Repetition – Recurrence of words phrases or lines• – ex. “Let it come! I repeat sir, let it come?”

• Parallelism – is a kind of repetition in which words or phrases in the same grammatical form connect ideas• - ex. “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet?”

Rhetorical Devices• Appeal to ethos – ethics and morals, credibility• - ex. “No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism,…”

• Appeal to logos – logic, reason• - ex. “”Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the

last ten years.”

• Appeal to pathos – emotion• - ex. “…;and we have been spurned with contempt, from the foot of

the throne.”

Rhetorical Devices• Allusions – references to events, figures, or

phrases from a literature, history, religion.• - ex. “Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss.”

• Metaphor - a direct comparison between two things• - ex. “Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the

storm which is now coming on.”

• Loaded Words – words with emotional value• - ex. “justice,” “honor,” “slavery”

Class assignment• We will listen to the speech as a class.

• Each member of your group will be responsible for finding examples of rhetorical devices.

• Use your assigned color to highlight the examples. • Hearts– green – antithesis and loaded words• Spades– blue – parallelism and repetition• Clubs – yellow – allusion and metaphor• Diamonds – pink - rhetorical questions and appeals

(logos, pathos, ethos)

In addition to highlighting, please label the examples

on your speech

Class Assignment• After we have finished reading the speech, please

complete the chart as a group.

• Before you write down the examples from your classmates, please discuss to be sure they are correct examples of the rhetorical terms.

• Answer the last question individually.