Speech in the Virginia Convention: Literary Analysis – Flashcards

"Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love?" This question is used to persuade people into fighting by outlining the fact that it is wrong for the British soldiers to be within their homes. They have never done anything to be treated unfairly and not with love. The rhetorical question helps the audience focus on this.

"Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house?" This question makes the audience focus on the possibility of Britain waging war against them. This is supposed to encourage the decision to fight and outlines how the British might censor Americans more than they do now.

"For my own part I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery..." The use of this antithesis displays the contrasting ideas of freedom and slavery. Patrick Henry declares that choosing to fight or not is similar to having freedom or being enslaved. This persuades people to fight because it hints at the notion of becoming slaves themselves.

"...give me liberty, or give me death!" This antithesis strongly declares Henry's position. He uses it to persuade the audience to fight for liberty. He implies that without fighting they will surely die by the hands of the British.

"Gentlemen may cry, "Peace! peace!"—but there is no peace." Patrick Henry repeats the word "peace" in order to install in the audience's minds that there isn't and will never be any peace. This may motivate people who want peace to fight.

"...we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight!" In this sentence, repetition is used to declare an action. Henry gives no other option, but fighting. The audience may feel as if there is no other choice but to fight and are reminded of that fact.

"Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament." The use of parallelism ensures that the audience will specifically keep what is being said in mind. It emphasizes the rejection that the audience has received from the British. Henry uses this to his advantage in order to persuade the audience that there is nothing else that they can come up with besides fighting.

"If we wish to be free—if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending—if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged..." The use of parallelism provides the audience of things that they can have or will experience. This persuades the audience to agree with Henry on the fact that they need to fight the British. It is made clear that these wishes will not be maintained or achieved unless they do so.