"The Address delivered at the Dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg" and "Pericles's Funeral Oration" Compared and Contrasted

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Speeches, they are large body paragraphs of words put together on a page to persuade, inform, and explain so many topics. They all can be so similar but also very different, in ways most wouldn’t think of. They can open the eyes of those who are lost, and change lives and the way things are thought of. The two speeches, “The Address Delivered at the Dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg”, and “Pericles’s Funeral Oration” are speeches that similarly support the same topic but are still very different. To begin, both speeches were written by well-known people. They support one topic that is to persuade the audience to accept the idea of honoring those who have perished in rectitude of serving their countries. As well as explain why they are in the battlefield, to help them to not forget the persons who have protected them so they can live in peace, while they endure a never ending fight for freedom. “We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.” (“The Address Delivered at the Dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg”, paragraph 2, lines 2-4) It says that they are met on a great battle field, and that they have come to dedicate that portion as a resting place for those who are deceased. Even though they won’t remember what was said to them, they will remember what it was that they did on that field. Secondly, Lincoln also states that at the moment they are standing on the exact grounds where several were killed in action during a battle. He clarifies that it is proper to contribute that specific portion of land as a place for th... ... middle of paper ... ...epetition. Even though Lincoln’s and Thucydides’ speeches are very similar, they still have great differences. To point out they were written and spoken by two completely different people. Abraham Lincoln wrote the speech “The Address Delivered at the Dedication of the Cemetery at Gettysburg” and delivered it at the same area that the Civil War or Battle of Gettysburg took place. “Pericles Funeral Oration” was written by a historian named Thucydides and delivered by the Athenian Politian, Pericles himself after the Peloponnesian War. These were also delivered and written at two completely different time periods. Lincoln wrote his speech during 1863 and delivered it at what is known as Soldier’s National Cemetery on November 19th, 1863. Pericles delivered his speech after the Peloponnesian war started, to honor the troops who had already fallen when the war began.

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