Eng 10/Eng 10 Honors Unit 2—Patrick Henry Mrs. Turner

Patrick Henry and Speech in the Virginia Convention p. 203

1. What are four common rhetorical devices?

2. What is this speech by Patrick Henry called? Why?

3. What had the majority argued for in the Virginia Convention (before Henry’s speech)?

4. What is Patrick Henry narrowing this argument down to?

5. Why does he mention God early on in this speech?

6. What are two literary allusions that Patrick Henry makes in this speech?

7. What is symbolism? What does the symbolism of the lamp guiding his feet attempt to do?

8. What are the five rhetorical questions in paragraph 4? What is the effect?

9. Where do you see repetition and why?

Eng 10/Eng 10 Honors Unit 2—Patrick Henry Mrs. Turner

10. What is the famous line in this speech? What is its significance?

11. What do you think of when you think of the classic “we’ve got to fight” movie or song where the hero is outnumbered but determined to fight anyway? What movie or song do you think of about the fight for freedom?

12. How does this speech fit with the American trend of “don’t tell me what to do”? Is that a trend that is still seen today? How?

Credit: (Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003690789/)

13. In the 1782 political cartoon above, what details in this political cartoon convey the artist’s opinion?

Eng 10/Eng 10 Honors Unit 2—Patrick Henry Mrs. Turner

Early American Political Cartoons Join or Die, Benjamin Franklin, 1754

(credit: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002695523/)

Widely accepted as the very first political cartoon. He added this political cartoon to an article urging the colonies to ban together over the issue of attacks from the Iroquois and increasing tension with France and Great Britain. He chiseled this image in wood with each section of the snake representing a different colony. In those days, people thought that a snake could come back to life if the severed pieces came back together before dusk.

The Colonies Reduced, Benjamin Franklin, 1767

(credit: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6764/)

Another political cartoon by Benjamin Franklin, this represents a warning of the consequences of the Stamp Act. The woman represents Britain and her dismembered body parts are the colonies (Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and New England). Franklin was concerned that the Stamp Act would cut off connections between the colonies and the “mother land” if the Act wasn’t repealed. She leans against the globe to represent that she (Britain) will not be able to dominate world politics if she disconnects herself from the colonies by abusing them.

Eng 10/Eng 10 Honors Unit 2—Patrick Henry Mrs. Turner

Bostonians paying the exciseman, Robert Sayer and John Bennett, 1774

(credit: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004673302/)

This political cartoon was published a few weeks after the Boston Tea Party. It depicts several men pouring boycotted tea down the throat of British Customs Commissioner John Malcolm. Before they started to pour tea down his throat, they tarred and feathered him, publicly humiliating him. The tree in the background is labeled “Liberty Tree”, representing the idea that Boston (and all of the citizens of the colonies) need to stand together and not let themselves be pushed around by the British Parliament.

The Horse America, Throwing Its Master, Westminster, 1779

(credit: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97514739/)

The author of this cartoon is unknown because the creator wanted to be anonymous. This was drawn in the middle of the American Revolution, and both sides were brutal to someone they saw as opposing them; this cartoon may even have been created in Britain rather than in America. The horse represents America and the

Eng 10/Eng 10 Honors Unit 2—Patrick Henry Mrs. Turner

man represents King George. America’s strength and resolve is seen as fierce and dangerous, and Britain is shown as a fat, pig-faced man with no ability to control America.