ipl-logo

Rhetorical Devices In Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

860 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address Analysis

In an almost identical setting four years prior to the occasion of Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, Lincoln delivered a speech regarding a war that was yet to come. Over the next four years, that impending conflict became a very real national catastrophe that divided Lincoln's nation. Now, at the start of his second term as president, Lincoln issues a speech focused on reconciliation and the renewal of a wounded nation by joining again with the South. As a skilled public speaker and an extremely respected political figure, Lincoln utilizes three rhetorical strategies to highlight the similarities between the North and South as well as to declare the war as the real enemy in an effort to urge the U.S. to reunite. In the second paragraph …show more content…

He begins to set up this form of comparison at the end of the second paragraph by including the phrases "the nation survive," and "the war came." Suggesting the nation has the opportunity to survive implies life within its entity that is being threatened. Saying that "the war came" gives the war the ability to come and go which creates a being for this idea. Lincoln strengthens these personifications throughout the rest of his speech. Lincoln endowed the war with the ability to live and die as he had previously done with the nation when he conveys his desires that the war "may speedily pass away." This displays the war as Lincoln's as well as the nation's true enemy as it has been given human qualities that define it as the opponent that must be defeated. He then urges the people to "bind up the nation's wounds" ; this grants the nation the ability to be wounded. By personifying the nation in this way, it suggests that the nation has been weakened and appeals to society's good nature and desire to help a wounded friend. Lincoln displays the U.S. as needing the help of the people and therefore calls them to aid in reuniting the nation as well as condemns the war -- not the opposing side -- as the true enemy in that same

Show More
Related
680 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
443 Words | 2 Pages

With the beginning of his second term and the Civil War coming to a close, President Lincoln was burdened by a country torn apart by war. Speaking to a nation of divided loyalties, Lincoln hoped his humble approach of divine strength would convince both the North and the South to put aside their prejudices against each other and restore the shattered Union. Lincoln’s allusion, parallel structure, and syntax helped restore the nation with dignity and grace. The newly elected president began his speech by suggesting that he would not repeat what others have said in the past; little progress had been made, and the public was very aware of the negative progress the troops were making.

Read More
464 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
642 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
376 Words | 2 Pages

In "The Gettysburg Address," Abraham Lincoln masterfully employs several rhetorical devices to argue for a continued war to preserve the Union and ensure that the sacrifices made at Gettysburg were not in vain. One of the devices he uses is parallelism. Lincoln emphasizes the importance of continuing the fight for the Union and completing the work that has been started by those who have sacrificed their lives by stating "It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced." This repetition of the phrase "for us the living" highlights the significance of the Union and the sacrifices made to preserve it.

Read More
493 Words | 2 Pages

To stir up the audience’s emotion, Lincoln utilizes emotionally charged words such as: wounds, widow, and orphan. Lincoln states, “let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan..”(72-74). The use of these words invokes sympathy and empathy among both the Northern and Southern audience and demonstrates the emotions shared among the 2 parties.

Read More
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”.

Read More
527 Words | 3 Pages

Abraham Lincoln's inaugural speech was about the civil war which he hoped to bring an in to peacefully without any blood being shed. He tries to do this by using forms of rhetorical devices such as appeal to religion, credibility and patriotism. By using these devices he hopes to accomplish the end of the civil war and change the minds of those on the civil war to abolish slavery everywhere in the United States of America. In Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural speech he appeals to religion by saying “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other.”

Read More
793 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
506 Words | 3 Pages

In Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, he stressed that the citizens should carry on this war “with malice toward none” and “with charity for all.” This statement could be considered self-contradictory because the North had immense amounts of hate for the South, as did the South for the North. Despite their hate for each other, Lincoln had much desire for this war to end quickly, as he wanted to reunite the Union as it once was before this horrendous dispute started. Lincoln found it mandatory that the people relieve all hate for each other in order to obtain a peace that only the end of the war could possibly bring.

Read More
799 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
585 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More
492 Words | 2 Pages

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.

Read More
502 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
808 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

More about Rhetorical Devices In Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

Related Topics

Open Document