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The Gettysburg Address Rhetorical Devices

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One rhetorical device that Abraham Lincoln uses in "The Gettysburg Address" to argue for a continued war is anaphora. Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of consecutive clauses or sentences. Lincoln uses anaphora in the phrase "we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground" to emphasize the importance of the ground on which the battle of Gettysburg was fought. By repeating the word "we cannot," Lincoln emphasizes the impossibility of honoring the ground in the traditional sense, instead suggesting that the only way to truly honor the fallen is to continue the fight for the ideals for which they died.
Another rhetorical device that Lincoln employs in the speech is parallelism. Parallelism is the use of similar grammatical structures in a series of phrases or clauses. In the phrase "that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth," Lincoln employs parallelism. By using parallelism in this phrase, Lincoln emphasizes the importance of the ideals of freedom and government held by the people, and the need to ensure that they are not lost. This parallelism helps to drive home the point that the …show more content…

An allusion is a reference to something that is not explicitly mentioned but is implied by the context. Lincoln alludes to the Declaration of Independence when he states that the war was fought "to test whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure." By referencing the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln implies that the war is not just about preserving the Union but about preserving the ideals of freedom and equality that the nation was founded upon. This allusion serves to remind the audience that the war is not just about political power but about preserving the very principles that make America

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He uses strong, inspirational language like, “great task”, “devotion”, “freedom”, etc. This further serves to motivate the audience. By saying, “last full measure of devotion”, Lincoln employs more poetic words than just, “gave their lives”, which shows the soldiers gave everything they had and the audience needs to complete their mission of uniting the nation. Lincoln includes an allusion to the Pledge of Allegiance with the words, “under God”, to return to the idea of the beginning fundamentals of the country and how they brought us together. He again employs asyndeton with, “of the people, by the people, for the people”, which also shows unity as a country.

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Utilizing rhetorical devices such as formal diction, allusion, and repetition, Abraham Lincoln’s “The Gettysburg Address” successfully expresses the importance of coming together as a nation during the Civil War. Lincoln portrays himself professionally and speaks to his audience in a strong, firm manner by using formal diction. Instead of making his speech casual and more personal, in a sense, the author makes sure that his words are to be heard and respected by using the word choice he did. For example, in the thirds paragraph, Lincoln talks about the soldiers stating, “It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have this far so nobly advanced.” The specific word choice

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To continue, Lincoln uses rhetorical devices to strengthen his speech. For instance, “For years he has labored to prove it a sacred right of white men to take negro slaves into the new territories” (Lincoln). There is irony used in this quote, the irony being that a democrat named Douglas has labored to keep slave in labor. Furthermore, “Why was the amendment, expressly declaring the right of the people to exclude slavery, voted down?” (Lincoln).

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In his famous Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, the president of the United States at that time, uses repetition and allusion to draw light to the importance and meaning of the situation, and the need for more people to rise up and fight for America. Lincoln begins using allusion, by referring back to America’s founding fathers, and the morals they implied with the idea that “all men are created equal”. Lincoln uses this to express the idea that this civil war was made off of ideas that go against American belief. He then speaks of the men who have given their lives to this war, and how his speech will be forgotten, but nothing he can say could compare to the importance and bravery of these men. “The world will little note, nor long

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By including such language, the very divided country is unified into one body. This rhetorical strategy also helps the audience to feel as if they know just as much about the future of the country as Lincoln does. As seen in this line, “the progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as

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The use of repetition, allusion, and diction solidify and strengthen his speech. Authors usually use repetition to hint at a main idea or to get the audience really thinking about the word, phrase, or idea they repeat. “All dreaded it, all sought to avert it.” At this point in time Lincoln is speaking to an audience of people affected by civil war. Brothers fighting brothers.

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Lincoln adequately expresses his purpose through repetition, and he uses antithesis and parallelism to compare and contrast all

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In "The Gettysburg Address," Abraham Lincoln brings his point across of dedicating the cemetery at Gettysburg by using repetition, antithesis, and parallelism. Abraham Lincoln uses repetition in his speech to bring a point across and to grab the audience attention. For example, President Lincoln states, "We can not dedicate--we can not consecrate-- we can not hallow-- this ground." Abraham Lincoln is saying the Gettysburg cannot be a holy land since the ones that fought there will still be remembered, and Lincoln is assuming that the dead and brave that fought would still want Gettysburg to improve on more.

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The Gettysburg Address begins with an allusion to when the Declaration of Independence was signed. As it starts with the phrase, “Four score and seven years ago…” he was referring to the year of 1776, which was 87 years from when the speech was given. (Lincoln) Using this, he had the ability to show the significance of the country's ideals in the speech by remembering the creation of the U.S., and therefore using pathos to influence the minds of the audience to think emotionally. He then ends his first sentence with a more specific allusion to the creation of the Declaration by stating the line ‘...that all men are created equal.’

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The Gettysburg Address was intended to be an argument to persuade. Abraham Lincoln was inspiring his troops because morale was low after the Battle of Gettysburg. They need motivation to keep fighting. Lincoln used logos by explaining that because people gave their lives defending what they believed in, the living should finish the job the dead started. By talking about the fellow soldiers who died at Gettysburg, Lincoln appeals to the pathos of his listeners.

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Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is one of the most practical yet inspiring speeches in the history of the United States. As Morrison points out in his article, Lincoln’s refusal to encapsulate the somber tragedies of Gettysburg in his speech is an effective method that fairly portrays just how indescribable the gruesome events of Gettysburg were. Furthermore, Wills argues that Lincoln's subtle and simple words are powerful enough to describe the situation at Gettysburg as a proof of the winning ideology. Essentially, Lincoln calculates his words tactfully to express that the ideological fight of the war is more important than the wars military importance. But as Kaplan points out, Lincoln’s address also serves as a monologue of advice and unity for the public to swallow during a period of gruesome

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Lincoln also uses the rhetorical device, personification, during the the beginning of the speech when he talks about the founding fathers. “ Our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty…”(464). In the excerpt, Lincoln is discussing the past and how it relates to America after the Civil War. Lincoln also uses personification later in his speech when he talks about the world.

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In “The Gettysburg Address”,Abraham LIncoln implements alliteration, parallelism, and repetition throughout his writing to remember the men that died at Gettysburg, and to motivate the people of the United States to continue the work of the dead, and to give the dead meaning. In his speech, Abraham Lincoln utilizes alliteration, in his first sentence, “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth”, he uses the same sound in “Four score”, “fathers”, and “forth”, he does this to reinforce the meaning, it unifies his ideas, and helps him introduce the topic he is going to talk about. He talks about what the country was founded on, which is equality.

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Rhetorically analyzing the speech, Lincoln uses many literary tactics to engage the audience in taking action in restoring America's unity. He utilizes shifts, comparisons, and repetition to create a speech that connects with the

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The iconic first sentence of the speech states “ Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty” (Lincoln, # ). The event Lincoln is referring to in the

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