Hey, it's Amy!
On the second page of PAtrick Henry's "Give me Liberty or Give Me Death," one of the techniques he uses is repitition for emphasis. Yes, this has nothing to do with the title, but I just wanted to mention it. For example, to lodge his ideas in the minds of others, he said, "we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight." We see this repitition in other areas as well such as, "let it come! I reapeat it, sir, let it come." This emphasis is to drive the rebellion in a time where war has already started, according to Henry, and the colonies must take action immediately to keep up with Great Britain or they will forever be bound in chains.
Back to the title of this entry,Patric Henry also uses the force of God to encourage and demand action from the colonists. It has been seen throughout history that nations at war will claim that God is supporting them, not their enemies, and the side that wins gets to affirm that their ambitions were the holy ones. We see this idea of God taking sides for the most holy cause in Patrick Henry's work as he puts religious emphasis on his ideas. "An appeal to arms and tot he God of Hosts is all that is left us," demonstrates his invoking of God's assistance in the rebellion along with his statement in the last paragraph, "Is life so dar, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!" Henry portrays the revolution as a holy and religious effort as he states "Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty..." This illustration of rebellion is to provoke mainly nationalist into action and possibly sway some neutrals, although the language is too strong to be directed towards neutrals.
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Hey, it's Jasmine.
I also noticed Henry's use of repetition. He not only repeats specific phrases ("we must fight", "let it come") but repeats ideas. He keeps telling his audience that they must pursue the truth instead of being deceived by hope. He also repeated the notion that the British were treating the colonists like slaves. By repeating the same couple of ideas over and over, Henry seems to be speaking authoritatively on the matter and backing up his argument with evidence. In reality, he is referring to abstract concepts (what exactly is truth, liberty, hope, or slavery?). These words have no extensional meaning, but Henry deliberately uses them to influence his audience's emotions and pride. He knows that the words "truth" and "liberty" have positive affective connotations and will cause the colonists to believe more deeply in the revolutionary cause. The word "slavery" has a negative connotation, thus associating Britain with tyranny and oppression.
This type of abstract language would have had the greatest effect on nationalists, since they were willing to believe whatever Henry said. Henry's speech didn't provide any new or profound information, but it provided new, fiery feelings. Neutrals would have been a little more skeptical. Some of them might have realized that Patrick Henry really wasn't saying anything meaningful and chose to ignore his speech. This is like the response to politicans today - many Americans don't listen to candidates' speeches because the politicans don't seem to be saying anything new.
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