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Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address Rhetorical Devices

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The Civil War was one of the most impactful events in United States history; Abraham Lincoln was the man who helped lead our country through that strenuous time. In his Second Inaugural Address Lincoln uses a variety of strong and effective rhetorical strategies to inspire his fellow Americans to accept the imminent closing of the Civil War with hopeful attitude and begin to heal a broken nation. Many people had made predictions for the end of the Civil War. However, President Lincoln does not definitively give either side the title of victor: “With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.” Using direct and declarative sentences, Lincoln is able to make his audience question their motives for making so many predictions. Rather than focus on who is in the right, Lincoln urges for a focus on the possibilities for a brighter future. The phrase “high hope for the future”, reassures the audience that America will recover from this conflict- no matter who wins or loses Lincoln continues to instill a hopeful attitude in his audience by using several biblical allusions throughout his speech. No matter the actions of the enemy Lincoln reminds America “let us judge not, that we …show more content…

He knows how many Americans are wishing for a speedy reconciliation: “Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.” Through the use of internal rhyme, this simple statement takes on the essence of a child’s prayer- a prayer of desperate desire for peace. Also, by using the word “we” Lincoln connects with his audience through the appeal of pathos. Here is the mighty President of the United States begging for peace alongside everyone else. The audience is now more willing to acknowledge his own pleas for attitudes of hope and dignity at the end of the Civil

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In the closing months of the Civil War, and in his Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln speaks upon important matters at the time. These matters being about slavery and politics. He wanted to express his thoughts on the ongoing Civil War and his hopes for creating a better future. In order to achieve his purpose, Abraham Lincoln utilizes sophisticated diction, irony, and pathos. Abraham Lincoln uses sophisticated diction in order to express his thoughts on the Civil War and his hopes for creating a better future.

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President Abraham Lincoln, in his inaugural address, addresses the topic of the civil war and its effects on the nation and argues that America could be unified once more. He supports his claim by using massive amounts of parallel structure and strong word choice. Lincoln ‘s purpose is to contemplate the effects of the civil war in order to unite the broken America once again. He adopts a very hopeful tone for his audience, the readers of the inaugural address and others interested in the topic of American history and the civil war.

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During the history of the United States there have been very respectable speakers Martin Luther King Jr. John F. Kennedy but perhaps no greater leader in American history came to addressing the country like Abraham Lincoln. In his Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln gave a short speech concerning the effect of the Civil War and his own personal vision for the future of the nation. In this speech Lincoln uses many different rhetorical strategies to convey his views of the Civil War to his audience.

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In a state of turmoil, unification is essential for a country to successfully move forward under one power. In his Second Inaugural Address, United States President Abraham Lincoln mentions the destruction created after the Civil War but also the peace that will come for the future of the country. Abraham Lincoln attempts to unite the American people after the Civil War through the use of confidently hopeful tone, the appeal to emotions, and the use of Biblical references. Throughout the Inaugural Address, Lincoln maintains a confidently hopeful tone towards the United States citizens to ensure there would ultimately be unity.

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President Abraham Lincoln asserts his concerns about war and the future of America in his “Second Inaugural Address” speech, delivered in eighteen sixty-five to the American people. In his speech, Lincoln admits the unforeseen duration of the Civil War and optimistically states his desires for it to cease. His tone throughout the speech is concerned and straightforward to show that American citizens should have a concern in the matter and make efforts to end the war. Abraham Lincoln’s use of rhetoric is what made this famous speech effective. Lincoln sets his straightforward tone right in the beginning of his speech.

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In Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln addresses a divided nation. He surprised the nation by presenting a speech without the content of politics but instead one about the effects of the Civil War. It contains neither gloating nor rejoicing, Lincoln uses a tone of determination to motivate both the North and South to come together and mend their broken nation. This address has gone down in history as one of the most effective speeches to have ever occurred and it’s because he uses a myriad of literary devices in his speech. His compassionate attitude/tone, biblical allusions and didactic diction all fuel his speech to drive the people to congregate and restore the nation.

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577 Words | 3 Pages

Abe Lincoln, in his second inaugural address, uses language with which the audience can connect and relate. Through inclusive pronouns, parallel sentence structure, pathos, and metaphors, Lincoln does not simply list off what the war has entailed or recommend a certain path the people must take. Lincoln instead consoles the nation as if it was a dear old friend whom is in dire need of advice. The first rhetorical strategy Lincoln used was inclusive pronouns such as “we”, “us”, and “all”. Additionally, the president began the address with the inviting words “Fellow Countrymen”.

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Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr where two men with completely different life experiences who lived in different time periods. While their lives were 100 years apart, and they each held different positions and titles in society; they both worked for equality. Both of these great and historic individuals fought tirelessly to create social change in what we now recognize as human rights. Abraham Lincoln entered his second term as President with an inaugural speech on March 4th, 1865. It was short, and promised to continue to goal of his first term, while not directly said, there was almost an apologetic tone regarding the war, a war, that was not wanted, but was necessary to secure change.

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The Civil War was a time period of social, political, and economic tensions. The North and South fought to decide whether to stop or continue slavery. Abraham Lincoln, the then president, addresses the two crowds before and after the war; however, in the second address, after the war, he uses specific literary devices to convey his message, of the need to end slavery. Abraham Lincoln uses varied sentence structure and appeals, in his succinct Second Inaugural Speech, to try to bring back harmony in the states and the abolitionment of slavery. Abraham Lincoln uses varied sentence structure to emphasize his message of harmony and abolition of slavery.

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In the final paragraph of his speech, Lincoln uses many words with positive connotation, such as honor, birth, and freedom in order to instill hope into the citizens of the United States. The continued use of the words “we”, and “us”, as used throughout the speech keep the steady flow of ambitions to carry on as a group awaiting their survival. The tone used when Lincoln states, “that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain” fuels the audience to continue their fight with power, in order to one day resume normal life, even better than

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It is seen clearly in his word choice that Lincoln calls for a lasting and fair peace, but not only between the North and South. He also calls the American people to apply this concept of peace with other countries and in foreign policy. Throughout his Second Inaugural Address, President Abraham Lincoln employs a variety of rhetorical strategies to promote unity between Americans. As Lincoln once said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

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Gettysburg Address Rhetorical Devices In Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” he is speaking to the very emotional nation after many people had just died during the Civil War, he needed to speak to nation to remind them that the sacrifices made by those in the Civil War will not be forgotten and that they must continue with what the war was fought for. He first starts off by referring to how the nation was started then continues to discuss the losses that have occurred from the Civil War and why they should move on while still remembering what the war was fought for. His strong use of rhetorical devices emphasises the goals they must aim for and reassures the nation that they are together in reconstruction by referring to events from the war to

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Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address Rhetorical Analysis The purpose of this speech is detailed in the time period. This speech was written/spoken at the end of the American Civil war. It is President Lincoln’s way of putting a tentative end to the war and a start to the recovery period. He is still oppressing the south in his diction when he states “Both parties deprecated war: but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive; and the other would accept war rather than let it perish.

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Abraham Lincoln in the speech, The Gettysburg Address, constructs a point of achieving a "just and lasting peace" between the North and South without retribution. Lincoln supports his assertion by justifying his beliefs of unity between the states. Lincoln's purpose is to influence the people to not allow what has been done to go to waste. He wants his audience to realize that this division will only persist if no one settles the current issues in society. Lincoln speaks in a sympathizing, determined tone to address the Americans who are mourning the loss of their loved ones and to the rest of Americans who he wants to see a change from.

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On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln gave a speech that, unbeknownst to him, would become one of the most recognized speeches in the history of the United States. The empowering speech was given in the midst of the gruesome civil war that began between the north and the south over the long-conflicted morality of slavery. Through one of the most highly remembered speeches of our history, The Gettysburg Address, Lincoln commemorates the dead and wounded soldiers at the site of the battle in Gettysburg through references to history, unificating diction and metaphors of life and death to unite the nation in a time of separation and provide a direction for the future of the country. Lincoln begins his essay utilizing historical references in order to illustrate to the public the basis of what the nation was founded upon. Through this, he reminds Americans the morals and ideals that the people are willing to spill blood for.

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