How Does Ted Kennedy Use Allusions In The Gettysburg Address

In President Barack Obama’s eulogy at Senator Ted Kennedy’s funeral, he argues that Ted Kennedy was a determined and persevering man to be honored. He supports his claim by utilizing allusion in order to create comparisons in history and further his own argument by using a well-known historical figure in his speech for the audience to further understand and relate, using anecdotes as to detail the life of Ted Kennedy and create a connection between him and his audience so that the audience can relate and empathize with the speech more, and by using anaphora as to create a more repetitive phrase that will draw the listener in and hook them into the speech to an even greater extent. His purpose was to help people remember him for what a great

In the text, it states, “Indeed, Ted was the “Happy Warrior” that the poet William Wordsworth spoke of when he wrote: As tempted more; more able to endure, As more exposed to suffering and distress; Thence, also, more alive to tenderness (Obama 6).“ This quote showcases his use of allusions in his speech clearly. He uses allusions as a means to draw comparisons to a historical figure many know as William Shakespeare as to create a means to help people understand Ted Kennedy further by comparing him to a work of Shakespeare’s and therefore relate. By comparing Ted Kennedy to a work by a well-known poet, it adds a sort of professionalism. It shows that Obama knows what he’s talking about and by comparing Kennedy to this known writer’s work paints him in a bigger spotlight and makes him sound or appear like a more interesting person. Even the work Obama references does its own job by being a poem describing a man who is “more alive to tenderness,” creating in a way, evidence that he is a good man. The audience therefore, feels more inclined to believe that this man was honorable because of the well-known figure’s work that’s being used to describe him. The strategy itself helps his purpose by making the topic more interesting and making Kennedy sound more

In his eulogy to Kennedy, he states, “Through his own suffering, Ted Kennedy became more alive to the plight and suffering of others— the sick child who could not see a doctor; the young soldier sent to battle without armor; the citizen denied her rights because of what she looks like or who she loves or where she comes from (Obama 6).” This line in his speech showcases the use of anaphora. He uses this in order to really say something that will truly stick with his audience. Not only is the content being used powerful, but the repetition of the word “the” at the beginning of every single one of those sentences makes the statement all the more powerful. This aids him in his purpose because then it gives Ted Kennedy a more powerful existence as well. The catchy phrasing really makes this line of words stick with an audience and really make them more inspired by it as well because of his use of it paired with the content of the words being emotional as