1. “Speech in the Virginia Convention” Context Clues: Using context clues, define each red word.
When Larry was tardy for the 6th time to school, he tried to extenuate the harshness of his punishment by claiming he only ever missed the announcements.
The woman who knows all of your secrets is an insidious foe.
Three million people armed with a cause are invincible when challenged.
My iphone 6s looks inviolate when compared to the broken mess I made of my 5s. I broke the whole back off of my old phone.
The police in Ferguson made the town seem martial by the harsh way they treated the citizens, the curfew they created, and the wearing of riot gear all day. It seemed like a town on the brink of war.
If our forefathers had acted supinely toward England, we would still have a king and queen instead of a president.
The guards at The White House have to be constantly vigilant, especially on 9/11 when they might be under attack.

2. Vocabulary in Practice
Directions: Decide whether these statements about the vocabulary words are true or false.
An invincible chess champion is one who has not been defeated.
People who act supinely doesn’t care about what happens to them.
A vigilant guard usually takes naps on duty.
Circumstances that extenuate a bad decision are those that make it worse.
A country that is overrun by armies from another land is experiencing subjugation.
A vase that has been broken into several pieces may be described as inviolate.
A martial gathering is one that is organized by peace demonstrators.

3. “The Speech in the Virginia Convention” Common Core Tracker
RI 6: Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text in which the rhetoric is particularly effective, analyzing how style and content contribute to the power, persuasiveness, or beauty of the text.
Objective: The student will be able to identify and analyze the use of the following rhetorical devices: rhetorical question, antithesis, repetition, parallelism, and biblical allusions.
Literature
Common
Core
Date Taught
Date Tested
“The Speech in the Virginia Convention”
RI 6
9/22-24/13
10/2/14 Even
10/3/14 Odd

4. Rhetorical Devices Review
structures within language that appeal to readers and communicate ideas
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?”
Biblical Allusions are references to events, figures, or phrases from the Bible. In this text, they have the rhetorical appeal of shared beliefs.
Rhetorical Questions are questions to which no answers are expected. ex. “But when shall we grow stronger?”
Antithesis expresses contrasting ideas in parallel grammatical structures. ex. “Give me liberty, or give me death.”
Repetition is the recurrence of words, phrases, or lines. ex. “Let it come! I repeat sir, let it come!”

5. More Antithesis
"Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." - Goethe
"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Money is the root of all evils: poverty is the fruit of all goodness.” (source unknown)
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times - Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
To err is human; to forgive divine. - An Essay on Criticism by Alexander Pope

6. More Parallelism
In writing, parallelism refers to balance and equality. If you start talking about one thing one way, you can’t – mid-sentence – switch to talking about something else a different way.
Different way: I will stop working on my speech and went to the movies.
Same way (parallel): I stopped working on my speech and went to the movies.

7. Literary Examples of Parallelism
"I don’t want to live on in my work. I want to live on in my apartment." - Woody Allen
"Today's students can put dope in their veins or hope in their brains. If they can conceive it and believe it, they can achieve it. They must know it is not their aptitude but their attitude that will determine their altitude." - Jesse Jackson
“My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.” - Barack Obama

8. “The Speech in the Virginia Convention” Day 2 Class assignment
Read the Speech in the VA Convention by Patrick Henry in your Baseball groups.
Find and write down 2 examples of your specific rhetorical device. Make sure to include page and line numbers.
1st base –antithesis
2nd base –parallelism
3rd base –rhetorical questions
Home base –repetition
Short Stop- Biblical Allusion

9. Individual assignment
Choose which example of each Rhetorical device is the best. Put a star next to the best ones. Answer the following questions:
What does the line mean?
How does it relate to the main idea of the text?
Why is the rhetorical device effective?

10. Review!
What does Henry mean when he says, “This is no time for ceremony”? (line 6)
What is the “question before the House”? (line 6-7)
What stark contrast does he present to convey the importance of this question? (line 9)
According to Henry, why is it so important to have “freedom of the debate”? (line 9)
Why does he mention the delegates’ responsibility to god and our country”? (line 11)
In lines 22-26, what point does Henry cite to argue that the British are preparing for war? (lines 30-31)
In lines 41-46, what is Henry’s answer to those who favor talking to the British?
What is Henry’s tone in lines 80-86?
What mood might his speech have stirred in the audience?
What does Henry mean when he says, “give me liberty, or give me death”? (line 86) What does he hope to achieve by this cry?

11. Exit Quiz!!!
Which devices occur most frequently in Henry’s speech? Do you think that rhetorical devices are an effective way to communicate, or do you find them manipulative? Cite examples from the text to support your answer.
Write in complete, logical sentences practicing good grammar and spelling. This will be part of your grade!

12. Homework:
Read “The Declaration of Independence” Pg Do questions 1-5 on pg Remember to answer in good detail. Your homework will be used as a part of our DYRT Quiz.