Comparing the Gettysburg Address and Ginsberg's America
Many writers have considered the identity of America. Two remarkable writers of two different time periods have shouldered this. They created two important works. The first, Abraham Lincoln; a great leader in the midst of an incredible time of change and confusion, delivered the Gettysburg Address to an assembly that came to him saddened and horrified by the trials of war. These same people left, changed, that day from the cemetery. The other, Allen Ginsberg, wrote the poem "America" for a generation of people caught between World War II and the Cold War. The comparison between these two works is important for learning the identity of all Americans.
The histories of America were used to attest to each work's ideas. Abraham Lincoln examined the founding father's works for democracy. He also wrote about the soldiers in the Battle of Gettysburg and their fight. These were the ones, as Lincoln said in the address, who "here gave their lives that the nation might live". When Allen Ginsberg wrote "America", he was speaking to people who had seemed to have lost all good intentions for America. "He had mulled over a way to write a long prophetic poem that addressed what he perceived to be the spiritual and cultural decline of America" (Schumacher 218). Historical events Ginsberg cited directly reflect the society which influenced him. They also show the bitter twist the speech's words "here gave their lives that the nation might live" to those Americans involved in these events. Sacco and Vanzetti, whom Ginsberg mentioned powerfully in the poem, are good examples of this. Sacco and Vanzetti were tried and convicted for killing two men and stealing 15,000 dollars...
... middle of paper ...
...aham Lincoln. Chicago: University of Illinois Press,1994.
Coolidge, Olivia. The Statesmanship of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1976.
Merrill, Thomas F. Revised Edition. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1988.
Neely, Mark Jr. The Last Best Hope of Earth: Abraham Lincoln and the Promise of America. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1995.
Rosenthal, M.L. "Poet of the New Violence". On the Poetry of Allen Ginsberg. Ed. Lewis Hyde. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1984. 29-31.
"Sacco-Vanzetti Case". Microsoft Encarta CD-ROM,1993.
Schumacher, Michael. Dharma Lion. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992.
"Scottsboro Boys". http://www.afroam.org/
history/scott/scotts.html. (1 April 1998).
Wills, Garry. Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1992.
O'Reilly, Bill, and Martin Dugard. Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever. New York: Henry Holt and, 2011. Print.
give the reader insight about anything relating to President Abraham Lincoln in his final days as
In “The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln,” Phillip Shaw Paludan argues that even though Abraham Lincoln faced unparalleled challenges, Lincoln was America’s greatest president as he preserved the Union and freed the slaves. According to Paludan, Lincoln’s greatness exceeds that of all other American presidents as Lincoln’s presidential service was remarkable in both the obstacles he faced as well as the ways in which he overcame them. Before accepting the distinguished chair in Lincoln studies at the University of Illinois, Springfield, Paludan was a professor of history at the University of Kansas for over 30 years. Paludan has authored several books including Victims: A True Story of the Civil War and A People’s Contest: The Union and Civil
radio, it had been said that Hiroshima suffered of an attack by a few B-29. Many
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.
Robinson, Luther E. Abraham Lincoln as a man of letters. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: R. West, 1977. Print.
World War II, also known as the Second World War was fought by Japan, Germany and Italy, also referred to as the Axis powers; that went against the Allies that consisted of the United States, the Soviet Union, and Britain with help from others. 60 to 80 billion deaths were the result of World War II ("Reasons for American Entry Into WWII"). Initially the United States did not want to interfere with a war going on in a different continent. At the start of the war America began a state of isolationism which kept America away from the war; until its “breaking point”. America’s deviation from isolationism in World War II is what establishes them as a powerhouse country economically an. Also, how America’s growth industrially lead to a post-war boom.
controlled by Paul W. Tibbets dropped “Little Boy”, which is an atomic bomb, on Hiroshima,
Japan attacked on December 7, 1941, at 6:45 a.m. most soldiers were still asleep. Two privates named George Elliot and Joseph Lockard, were operating a mobile radar on the north coast of Oahu the day of the attack. They noticed a large blip on the radar screen, a blip meant a very...
Goodwin, Doris Kearns. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.
December 7, 1941, Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, a day that will live in infamy. Mrs. Augspurger remembers feeling shocked. There had been reports of the Japanese becoming stronger, but she had no idea they were strong enough to attack us and hurt us like they did. At first, people did not believe we were attacked; they thought it was a drill. We were a strong nation and weaker nations would not dare attack us on our own soil. Because of the events at Pearl Harbor, the United States joined WWII.
In “The Gettysburg Address,” Abraham Lincoln reminds the nation of what they are fighting for. A reverent Lincoln commemorates the lives that were lost at the Gettysburg battle while using it as a cue of why the war is taking place. In a speech like no other, given on the site of one of the bloodiest battlefields of the Civil War in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the 16th President of the United States reflects the utter freedom and equality the nation was raised upon. This speech is commemorated as one of the greatest speeches in American history because of its impact to the nation in only a short two minutes of length. With no invitation to the memorable event until the last minute and surrounded by negative energy
What to do? The issue of abused and homeless women is one that has recently been brought to the forefront of social issues in Pakistan. Abuse, most often begins after marriage. According to local traditions, once a girl’s baraat (wedding procession) enters the husband’s house, only her janaza (funeral pyre) should leave. Loyalty and devotion to the husband and his family come above every thing else. When family support is pulled away, the girl is then at the mercy of her husband. This total control of the girl’s life sometimes leads to her death. Often times it leads to abuse. The girl cannot return to her father’s house for fear of dishonoring him and so continues to suffer. In some cases she may chose to run away therefore igniting her husband’s anger that then is left with no choice put to pursue and kill her to redeem his honor.
This helped develop the central idea by pulling at heartstrings. The device Lincoln used for this main idea is pathos and sentence structure. First, he uses pathos when he says, ‘’Now we are in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.’’ This appeals to our hearts because during wars, blood is shed. Notably, he uses pathos when he states, ‘’We have come here 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, 1) This appeals to the heart since people lost their lives; this device moves us to do what is asked. Likewise, he uses sentence structure and pathos when he says, ‘’The world will little note, nor long remember what we have to say here, but it can never forget what they did here.’’(Lincoln, 1) The commas make the sentence more slow and fitting as he continues to honor the deaths. Lincoln’s use of pathos and sentence structure pull heavily at our
A bomb named “little boy”, dropped by the United States, was realised into the air falling 13,000 feet down to the unknowing people of Hiroshima.