Rhetorical Question. A rhetorical question is one asked for effect but not meant to be answered because the answer is clear from the context. Speakers use rhetorical questions as a means for reinforcing a point that they have already made or that should, from the speaker’s point of view, be obvious to the audience. Paragraph 2 contains this example: “Are we disposed to be of the number of those who having eyes see not, and having ears hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?” As you read, look for additional examples of rhetorical questions in the speech.
Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was an eighteenth-century philosophical movement characterized by belief in reason, the scientific method, and the perfectibility of people and society. It was believed that people could, through application of reason, discover truth relating to the conduct of life or of society. Look for references in this speech that Patrick Henry participated in this movement.
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The Speech in the Virginia Convention, probably Patrick Henry’s best-known oration, was not written down until years after its delivery on March 23, 1775. It had so captured the attention of its listeners that they were able to recall it for Henry’s biographer, William Wirt.
This speech against the Stamp Act in 1765 is considered one of his finest, in which he uttered the famous words: “I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” The speech was delivered to the Virginia Convention during a time of growing political unrest. Less than a month after Henry’s speech, his prediction of open battle in the North was fulfilled in the opening skirmishes of the American Revolution at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775.
When have a friend’s or a relative’s words motivated you to take action?
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