Gettysburg Address Rhetorical Essay

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President Lincoln gave a speech on his vision and the state of the country, when his audience was expecting something completely different. Since the Civil war was fought mostly because of slavery and politics, that’s what the people expected to hear about.Lincoln claims that each side had their reasons and each side tried to avoid war. However, war still occurred and everyone was waiting for it to end. The authors claims that the people want the war over so the nation can heal. The use of repetition, allusion, and diction solidify and strengthen his speech. Authors usually use repetition to hint at a main idea or to get the audience really thinking about the word, phrase, or idea they repeat. “All dreaded it, all sought to avert it.” At this point in time Lincoln is speaking to an audience of people affected by civil war. Brothers fighting brothers. By repeating “all” Lincoln brings a sense of unity to his audience. They aren’t from two different sides, they are …show more content…

“ With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace amoung ourselves and with all nations.” Throughout Lincoln’s speech his main point is unity. He understands the importance of helping individuals, but he wants the individuals to heal the nation. If enemies can help each other heal, then there is no longer conflict, only solutions. Also, he wants the nation to bind together for the injured people’s families and to help the families who lost someone to the war and are having a hard time. His diction emphasizes all the compassion and empathy he wants the audience to feel. He wants his audience to work together, to become one after being two for so