On November 19th, about seven score and twelve years ago, President Abraham Lincoln gave a monumental speech known as the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln’s address was comprised of two-hundred and seventy-two words which were separated by ten forms of various punctuation and lasted a mere two minutes. However, although short, the speech was particularly concise, and is still resonating in the classrooms of High School and College campuses. In fact, Edward Everett also gave a speech that day over the same subject, and he is quoted saying, “I should be glad, if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes.” To understand the meaning behind the speech, one must first understand the background, context, behind the speech. During Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, the war was torn between a the Southern Confederacy and the Northern Union. Both sides had differing opinions, and were willing to fight their brothers in the name of their cause. America …show more content…
Lincoln states that, “[w]e 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 that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.” Lincoln’s use of the contradiction between life and death and his use of consonance is meant to intrigue the audience. Lincoln is saying that, although there has been death, there has been a resurrection of a nation, and that nation has been allowed to live and thrive because ones who gave their lives. He is suggesting that although there has been darkness, there is a light, and America is headed for that light. The consonance, the repetition of consonant sounds, occurs in words such as battlefield, field, final, fitting, and
Lincoln’s Famous Address written by Roselynn Marquez talks about how Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was only 270 words, and it followed a two hour introduction by Edward Everett. Being short was not the only memorable point that the speech had. “Another was the simplicity of its language. As historian Allen Guelzo notes, ‘the address relies on crisp, plain vocabulary.’ He points out that most of the words are only one-syllable. Doris Kearns Goodwin concludes, ‘Lincoln had translated the story of his country...into words and ideas accessible to every American.’ By making his ideas easy to grasp, Lincoln gave them directness and power” (Marquez). The Gettysburg Address to this day is known as a unforgettable expression inscribing the war that took on in the country. In summarization, Abraham Lincoln is known widely for the Address he made in Gettysburg after the battle that took place
In the “Gettysburg Address” given by Abraham Lincoln, he used alliteration, repetition, and antithesis to convince his audience to unite and come as one for equal justice and freedom.
The Gettysburg Address given by President Lincoln in the November following the Battle of Gettysburg acted as a call to arms. This speech gave the North a sense of pride and reassured them that they did have a chance at winning the Civil War. In The Gettysburg Address, Lincoln tells the audience not to let the men who died in the battle die in vain he tells them that their dedication will lead to a “new birth of freedom” in the nation(document D). This newly found sense of pride and hope led confidence which was something that the Confederate army was lacking at the
Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America "Fourscore and seven years ago ." These are the first 5 of only two hundred seventy-two words that remade America. In Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America, the author, Gary Wills, informed us that Abraham Lincoln wanted equality among us and to unite as one. In Abraham Lincoln's own speech, he would not mention single individuals or even top officers. Everyone was considered as equal importance and was never any different. "Though we call Lincoln's text the Gettysburg Address, that title clearly belongs to Everett." 1 This is very true, which I think is interesting. Everett who was chosen by David Wills to commemorate the National Cemetery of Gettysburg, was supposed to be the speaker while Lincoln was only the dedicatory remarks speaker. Not only did Lincoln have the favorable speech, it was only three minutes while Everett's was two hours long. Lincoln also supposedly was not supposed to be there to speak; he actually just told a correspondent that he would be present. It's amazing to believe that a two hundred seventy-two word speech would say so much to thousands of people.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy delivered one of the most important American speeches after being sworn in as president on January 20, 1961. His inauguration speech was so influential that it seized the nation’s attention, and quotes from it are still clearly remembered by people today. It is considered one of the best speeches ever written and ever delivered. It presents a strong appeal to pathos, ethos, and logos and accomplishes what any speaker strives for – it speaks straight to the heart of the audience and inspires people.
He had just beaten out George B. McClellan for president. McClellan wanted the country split into two- one slave-holding and one free. However, the country had chosen Lincoln, they wanted the country to stay together. People wanted too much of Lincoln. He would have enemies no matter what choice he made. So now, instead of staying passive like he did in his first Inaugural Address, he took a stand in his second. He told the country that God sent the slaves to them early in this country, but now He wanted them gone. The war was a punishment from God for all slaveholders. Lincoln made this a rallying cry for all northerners, telling them that they would fight “until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword.” This war would be bloody, but if they could only keep fighting a little more, there would be success at the
It was in between the years of 1861 and 1865 when one of the most famous, but deadliest wars in the United States happened, the Civil War. During this time Abraham Lincoln, which was the U.S. president at that given time, gave a speech known today as "The Gettysburg Address". It is also recognized as one of the most influential and best-known speeches in American History. One purpose of this speech was to honor the fallen ones, the people that died at Gettysburg and have sacrificed their lives for the sake of the country. Today we'll talk about that, the honoring of the deceased, and how the tone and parallel structure helped us analyzed that.
Four and a half months after the Union defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863. He gave the Union soldiers a new perspective on the war and a reason to fight in the Civil War. Before the address, the Civil War was based on states’ rights. Lincoln’s speech has the essence of America and the ideals that were instilled in the Declaration of Independence by the Founders. The sixteenth president of the United States was capable of using his speech to turn a war on states’ rights to a war on slavery and upholding the principles that America was founded upon. By turning the Civil War into a war about slavery he effortlessly ensured that no foreign country would recognize the South as an independent nation, ensuring Union success in the war. In his speech, Lincoln used the rhetorical devices of juxtaposition, repetition, and parallelism, to touch the hearts of its listeners.
The "Emancipation Proclamation" speech was actually intended for most of the people that would free the slaves, not to the slaves. According to Rollyson the proclamation was not intended for the slave, blacks, or former slaves. The “Emancipation Proclamation” speech was during the Antislavery Movement or what some people call it the Abolitionist Movement, during the 1960's. The main leaders of the abolitionist movement were Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas. The point of Lincoln writing the speech about emancipating the slaves was to free the slaves and win the civil war. Lincoln had written a speech named "The Emancipation Proclamation". He wrote this speech and signed it in January of 1863, in Washington, D.C. The theme of the speech was to teach everyone that everyone, no matter what race should be treated equally. In the "Emancipation Proclamation" speech, Abraham Lincoln motivates his intended audience during the Antislavery movement by using pathos and rhetorical question.
Lincoln then continues on to speak of how the war being fought was a test to the nation. " Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure." Lincoln used the word " we" several tines in his speech in order to promote a sense of unity, one of the themes of this speech, and to show that he acknowledges the soldiers as a team. " We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do." Lincoln makes a big rhetorical shift in the middle of his speech talking about the nation as a whole, and then focusing on the soldiers in general.
In spite of the fact that Lincoln felt sure that his standards were right, he was profoundly mindful of his own uncertainty, and in his second inaugural speech, he proposed that the unpleasant expense of the Civil War ought to be seen as God 's only discipline for the wrongdoing of American servitude, in which both north and south had been complicit. Promising to mend the injuries of war, he proposed to act with “firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in.” (Thrift
“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. 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 that nation might live.” His use of anaphora by repeating the words “we”, “nation”,and “dedicate” to give emphasis on unity. Juxtaposition is also used in the last line by comparing the soldiers dying to be able to give the nation 's ability to live on. By choosing the words “final resting place” Lincoln and his audience is literally standing on the soldier 's final resting
At 7:30am, on Wednesday, July 1st, 1863, at the intersection of Knoxlyn Rd and US Rt. 30 Chambersburg Pike, a shot was fired by Lieutenant Marcellus Jones. This shot would not be forgotten, as it was the beginning of what would turn into one of the biggest turning points of the Civil War; The Battle of Gettysburg. This three day streak of combat would later be referred to as the “High Water Mark of the Rebellion.” With the outcome being an overall Union victory, the Battle of Gettysburg would mark the point at which the Union would place the Confederacy on the defensive and end General Robert E. Lee’s most ambitious attempt to seize Union territory. The Battle of Gettysburg was so critical, in fact, that it lead to one of the most vital documents written in United States history, the Gettysburg Address. How exactly did this battle guide President Abraham Lincoln to write the Gettysburg Address is a common question among many.
Beardsley, Frank. "American History: The American Civil War: Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (VOA Special English 2005-04-20)." Interesting Things for ESL/EFL Students (Fun English Study). Www.manythings.org. Web. 12 June 2011. .
In his speech, Lincoln immediately makes an appeal to people’s patriotism. “ 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”. This preliminary line reminds the audience of their country and their duty to their countrymen. It intuitively eases folks into the idea that their country was a nation founded by liberty, a popular notion, and serves to fill those listening with national pride. Lincoln goes on to address the soldiers who gave their lives towards preserving the country that they love so. “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 that nation might live.” He uses this rhetoric as a way of reminding the American people of these honorable fallen and why they should pay particular respect towards the soldiers. Lincoln also shows a more humble side to his speech. “But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember