Diction In The Gettysburg Address

The speech “Gettysburg address” was written November 19 1863, almost four years after the first shots of the civil war happened in fort sumter . This speech was so impactful and it was only two minutes long. This two minute speech was one of many impactful speeches in history. Abraham Lincoln wrote the speech “ Gettysburg address” . During the civil war a lot of the soldiers had died. Family members were grieving over the loss of loved ones, and friends. Abraham Lincoln made this speech for the people who lost family members or loved ones in the war. This speech honored those who have fallen on the battlefield and remind those why we had a civil war. Abraham Lincoln reminded the soldiers what they were fighting for in the first place , that they can move forward from the loss of soldiers in “ Gettysburg Address “ using repetition and diction .

First and foremost, Abraham lincoln used diction in his speech of the “Gettysburg address” to contribute to his overall tone.He uses words to think highly of the soldiers like devotion and noble.

Also he uses the words hallow, consecrate, and dedicate, “ But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot hallow , we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground (Lincoln , line 9,10) . Also “... who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced” (lincoln, line 14). Lincoln is trying to make himself more respectable using his diction. Also he is trying to make the family’s who lost loved ones , think even more highly of the soldiers. The way he used diction works because it makes his point of that they can advance through what they lost and remember what they were fighting for in the first place. It overall comforted those who have lost loved ones, the speech made it more like they nobly died instead of just another soldier dying in a

war.

Secondly , Abraham uses repetition to show that it isn't just him in that war, it's everyone. He shows that everyone contributes to the war using repetition. In the sentences “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 the nation might live (lincoln, line 5,6,7). “But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot concentrate, we cannot hallow this ground” (lincoln line 9,10). What lincoln is trying to get at is that we are in the war , we are all going to cope , that we are going to honor our soldiers . Lincoln was trying to put it in a sense that we are nation , we are all together . We can't forget why we were fighting , why we lost so many soldiers , we were fighting for freedom for everyone.

Abraham Lincoln wrote the speech “ Gettysburg address” .A lot of the soldiers had died during that war, family members were grieving over loss of loved ones, and also the loss of friends. Lincoln made this speech for the people who lost family members or loved ones in the war. This speech honored those who have fallen on the battlefield and remind those what the nation was fighting for. This speech is so impactful in our history , the speech was going out to the families who have lost fathers, brothers, sisters or mothers in this war. He wanted them to know that we are all still in this together that we as a nation should remember what we were fighting for , we were fighting for rights, we were fighting for freedom. That there soldiers have not died for no reason, that they were noble soldiers, they were brave men. Without this speech a lot of families could not have been able to move on . The battle of gettysburg was a very impactful speech then and now.