Similarities Between The Gettysburg Address And The Farewell Address

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Poem Comparison

Did you know that a kid wrote Abraham Lincoln a letter asking him to grow a beard and he did just that? Lincoln spoke many different speeches, but what are the differences and similarities between them? Read this passage below and you will see the comparisons of tone, theme, purpose, and figurative language between the Gettysburg Address and the Farewell Address.

First, we can start with the difference between the themes. The theme of the Gettysburg Address is a monumental act while the theme of the Farewell Address is a goodbye. An example of this is that in the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln states in the first stanza, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” (Lincoln)This shows that Lincoln cares for the people and he is thanking what our founding fathers did for our nation. The theme in the Farewell Address is goodbye because it is …show more content…

The figurative language we will be looking at is allusions and similes. An allusion located in the Gettysburg Address is a famous saying located in stanza three, line five, “...of the people, by the people, for the people…”. This is a famous quote and or saying that is said by many presidents and if you read about the history of the U.S., you would be able to understand it. Strangely, this is no allusion in the Farewell Address. Now we can look at similies. A simile located in the Gettysburg Address, stanza two line two, “...as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives…”. This is comparing the battlefield they fought on to a graveyard for those who died fighting. Strangly again, there are no similes in the farewell address. A total comparison of figurative language between the two speeches would be that the Gettysburg Address does have figurative language while the Farewell Address