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Rhetorical Devices In Lincoln's First Inaugural Address

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Lincoln begins his address by establishing the distinct time in which his inauguration arrives. Lincoln, using ethos, acknowledges that “public declarations have been constantly called forth… The progress of our arms…is as well known to the public as to myself” (7-11). Lincoln establishes that he has already been transparent with the country about the progress of the war, employing the collective pronoun “our arms” and communal identifies such as the “public” (4-6). Lincoln continues to use more inclusive language as he revisits the growing factionalism of the nation during his first inaugural address: “four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dread it, all sought to avert it” (17-19). Lincoln uses …show more content…

Instead, he subtly suggests the south was at fault, and by doing this he does not directly blame the people. This passive tone shows that Lincolns focus is not to blame for the war, but to show that war brought suffering of equal proportions to both north and south. In the last half of his address, Lincoln logically explains why God had not ended the war and urges his audience not to judge. He states to his audience that they should “judge not that they be not judged,” alluding to the Lord's Prayer and appealing to his audience's Christian beliefs, and pacifying his audience. Lincoln continues to appeal to his audience’s religious background and answers his statement “and the war came”, revealing that "If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come… He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came" (30-32). By associating the cause of the war as divine, Lincoln circumvents the anger and suffering the war caused on both sides, as the outcome is Gods will, and not many can be angry at

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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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After reading the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address, and Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, it seems that Lincoln’s original goal of saving the Union has changed. Now, in addition to saving the Union, Lincoln wants to free the slaves thereby making the Union a model for other countries. After reading the documents, there is a perceptible shift in his rhetoric from his First Inaugural Address to his Second Inaugural Address. He now mentions nations in his speech. Lincoln’s speeches clearly show his change in stance towards his original goal by including language that intermixes his multiple goals together.

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In his Second Inaugural Address, President Abraham Lincoln addressed the topic of the Civil War and argued that the nation needed to change. He supported his claim with parallel structure to highlight the differences between the North and South, then mentioning biblical references to express the importance of religion, and finally the diction he used helped join the citizens together. President Lincoln’s purpose was to express the similarities between the North and South in order to unify the country once again. He uses a critical, yet hopeful tone towards the Americans of both the North and South. Just one month before the end of the Civil War, President Lincoln gave his Second Inaugural Address in the hopes of reuniting the country once

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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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A month before the end of the American civil war, President Abraham Lincoln gave his second inaugural address to the nation. In his speech, Lincoln shifts the blame of starting the war towards the south through juxtaposing the northern and southern parties. But at the same time he also applies anaphora and biblical allusions to create a sense of unity between the two opposing sides in the hope that they can better their future together. Early on in his speech, Lincoln uses juxtaposition to contrast the northern and southern parties. He claims that the South “would make war rather than let the nation survive,” while the North “would accept war rather than let it parish, and the war came.”

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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 Abraham Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address to the nation, he delivers a surprisingly short but extremely effective speech to a country deeply divided in the midst of a civil war. The “Great Emancipator” uses a myriad of rhetorical strategies throughout his address, with the hopes that this moving delivery will help mend fences on the path to a unified nation. Lincoln begins his Inaugural Address with a passive voice. He reminds his fellow listeners that: "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, and the war came” (line 24-27).

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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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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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On paragraph 7 It says “However, Lincoln continues, God may want the war to continue until all the wealth earned from 250 years of slavery is drained. And he may want the war to continue until every drop of blood drawn from an enslaved person is paid for with a drop of soldier’s blood. Even if this is true, Lincoln says, God is still as just and righteous as he’s ever been. Lincoln then concludes with a call to peace.” Lincoln just wanted peace for everyone.

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President Abraham Lincoln uses a variety of rhetorical strategies in his Second Inaugural Address to pose an argument to the American people regarding the division in the country between the northern states and the southern states. Lincoln gives this address during the American Civil War, when politics were highly debated and there was a lot of disagreement. Lincoln calls for the people of America to overcome their differences to reunite as one whole nation once more. Lincoln begins his Second Inaugural Address by discussing the American Civil War and its ramifications.

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“Abraham Lincoln is credited with coining the term "Michigander." In a speech before the House of Representatives on July 27, 1848, Lincoln referred to former Michigan governor and Democratic presidential candidate Lewis Cass as "the great Michigander. " The reference was meant as an insult, combining the word Michigan with gander” (Mlive, “All About Lincoln”). Even though “Michigander” is an insult it took an opinion and Lincoln’s attitude to form. In “The Gettysburg Address” and “Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address” president Abraham Lincoln expresses his belief that soldiers’ sacrifices for our freedom and democracy should be remembered.

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Lincoln thought about the war theologically, as well as politically. This made clear by his many insertions of the Bible throughout his speech―“God” (five times), “living God” (once), the “Almighty” (once), the “Lord” (once), “His” (three times), “He” (twice), “Him” (once)—all in the short space of 469 words in two paragraphs. With the words "The Almighty has His own purposes" Lincoln brought God to the rhetorical center of the address. In quick strokes he described God's actions: "He now wills to remove"; "He gives to both North and South this terrible war" proclaiming that this war was brought on by God as a repayment for slavery and the war will not end “until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the

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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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