The Gettysburg Address Rhetorical Devices

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The Gettysburg Address was a speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln in the dedication of the courageous men that died in the honor of the country. With the usage of repetition, antithesis, and parallelism Lincoln emphasizes the fact that we must commemorate these men that died for freedom and peace. He wants to communicate to the people of America that we must try to make this country stand on the foundation pf which is was created upon, freedom. On the first hand, with the usage of repetition in Lincoln's speech, he devoted the Gettysburg cemetery in honor of the heroic men that gave up their lives during the battle. Repetion helped his point become emphasized and it also helps the reader notice the importance by repeating the same words over …show more content…

Furthermore, the speech also includes antithesis in order to create a vivid picture and to establish contrast using two divergent words to come together to make a uniform whole. In the speech he states "the brave men, living and dead" he points out how the men imperiled their lives for us whether they died or lived through the devastating event that dismounted. He emphasizes on the that fact "living or dead" because he wants to honor the men that fought even if they did not die he wants the people to keep in mind that they fought for the same reason. Antithesis helps balance two complete opposite qualities and give them an insight to the subject. In like manner, Lincoln also gives a sense of parallelism to give clarity to the speech, it creates balance and rhythm and highlights information to generate a powerful point. The speech states how, "we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate" which shows how Abraham wanted people to comprehend that we can do is continue to make this country stand on the foundation of freedom like it originally was and