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Abraham Lincoln's Rhetorical Analysis Of Bind Up And Peace

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When Abraham Lincoln first became president, the Civil War was in its infancy. However, at his second election, things could not have been any more different. The country was divided and there was anger among the people of the north and the south. When Abraham Lincoln gives his speech after being elected president again, his purpose is to convince the two unions to put aside their issues that separate them and unify to heal their broken nation. Lincoln’s use of positive diction, optimistic tone, and biblical allusions help to achieve his purpose. Words such as Bind up and Peace promote a feeling of unification and pardoning. Lincoln hopes for the nation to unify and for the two unions to forgive each other. He uses Bind up and Peace to express what he wants for the future of his nation. Bind up communicates the emotion of healing the wounds of Americans as well as the nation as whole. It implies that even if the north wins, the country as a whole will still be broken and in need of healing because of hatred. Lincoln also speaks of lasting peace which he wants to come upon the nation. Ultimately, he hopes for the binding of the nation followed by lasting peace, which will need the unification of the two unions. This use of positive diction helps to communicate his feelings. …show more content…

He hopes to galvanize people with sentences like, “let us strive on to finish the work we are in” and “to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace.” He stays optimistic and wishes to end the war along with moving past the conflict of slavery which has divided the country. His tone can also be noticed in his use of the hortative sentence asking the people to “let us strive”. When speaking of the war, Lincoln also does not place blame on either side with phrases like “All dreaded it, all sought to avert it.” This makes his audience think of nothing but the end of the

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