Gettysburg Address Rhetorical Devices

Rhetorical Analysis In 1863 at the Gettysburg National Cemetery, President Abraham Lincoln gave one of the most prolific speeches of all time. The speech was called “The Gettysburg Address” hence where it was delivered. During this time of 1863 was the civil war and Lincoln was trying to unite the North and South colonies together to stop fighting during the civil war. After a very long one hour speech, Lincoln delivered a powerful 10-line speech that resonates with many people even today as one of the greatest speeches delivered of all time. President Lincoln’s speech “The Gettysburg Address” while trying to unite the North and South colonies together uses rhetorical devices, tone/diction, and the rhetorical triangle to attract his audience.

Pathos is first off used when Lincoln mentions, “But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow - this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract." (Lincoln 149) which means that Lincoln is trying to get the listeners to think about the ones that have already passed on and what is a reasoning for this war. Lincoln builds that emotional connection with his audience on a reason of what is going on during the time. Lincoln becomes easier to understand and easier to relate to when he does that so the audience is more drawn in during his speech. Logos is also used when Lincoln says, “all men are created equal” (Lincoln 149) which means that people need to fight on the behalf of their sacrifices because they are all the same which is just logic. The logic of this is that because someone died for me, I can go out and die for them because we are equal people. Ethos is used in the speech even before Lincoln was giving the speech. He was already the president of the United States, giving his words more strength to them because of his job as a