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Influence of history on literature
Civil War Essay Writing
Lincoln's view of the civil war
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To concoct a visual with just reading an accurate and detailed portrayal of actual life, which includes real characters in real lives with real jobs and real problems was very significant to this country’s literary history. “Realism in American literature, which lasted from 1865-1910, was a reaction to and a rejection of Romanticism” (http://education-portal.com). “Walt Whitman was determined to express the truth through verse using authentic American situations and settings with language that appealed to the senses, [for instance the battlefield hospital in Falmount, Virginia.] The Civil War provided him with an adept opportunity” (http://edsitement.neh.gov). In comparison to Abraham Lincoln, whom also transcended his speech in a way readers could create hatch an optic. Lincoln did use some powerful rhetorical speaking devices in his writing, which included parallelism and repetition. …show more content…
The purpose of Lincoln’s speech was to dedicate a plot of land that would become Soldier’s National Cemetery to honor the fallen. However, the Civil War still raged and Lincoln realized that he also had to inspire the people to continue the fight. During his speech, Lincoln begins invoking the principles of human equality contained in the Declaration of Independence and connected the sacrifices of the Civil War with the desire for “a new birth of freedom,” as well as the all-important preservation of the Union created in 1776 and its ideal of self-government
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
“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
On March 4th, 1865, the Civil War was drawing to an end and Abraham Lincoln gave his Second Inaugural Address to become the President of the United States for the second time. At this point it was clear that the North was to win the war. Instead of boasting and bragging about his victory, Lincoln took a different route in his speech. He focused instead on putting the war behind the nation and reunifying the country. In this famous speech, he used various forms of rhetoric and literary devices to achieve this goal. He first employs the use of God to appeal to the pathos in the people of the North and South. The overall tone of the speech is also one of unification rather than that of celebration. Going with this is his word choice or diction; he continuously addresses the country as one instead of two split parts. These literary devices are crucial to the success of his core purpose of speech.
The way In which Lincoln referred to these soldiers is a clear indication of his support. This is seen in his use of formal diction- "devotion” and "hallow”, which associate them with the work of the soldiers. These words hold connotations of honor, making it known to the audience that their dedication is deserving of respect. His appeal can also be found in his reference to the Declaration Of Independence, “all men are created equal.” Being that the Declaration of Independence is mainly about freedom and equality, it is a reminder of what the soldiers were fighting for. This move is used to inspire the audience, create a sense of motivation. These aspects of his speech are effective on his connection to the nation's people, who are freshly exposed to the extent of this tragedy. Lincoln’s language is a way to gain their trust and move forward under the example of these brave
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.
Abraham Lincoln’s formal diction in the “Gettysburg Address” created a reverent tone, and made him appear reputable. By choosing words like “hallow” “devotion” “nobly” and “brave” he praised the Civil War soldiers and commemorated their work. Lincoln aimed to inspire and encourage people to keep fighting. He alluded to the Declaration of Independence “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” (2048). Moreover, symbolizing equality and freedom, it gave them something to fight for. Lincoln used “we” multiple times to comfort the crowd and never said the words “I” or “me.”
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 something to fight for. Before the address, the Civil War was based solely on states’ rights. Lincoln’s speech has the essence of America and the ideals that were put into 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 that was about slavery he was able to ensure that no foreign country would recognize the south as an independent nation, thus ensuring Union success in the war. In his speech, Lincoln used the rhetorical devices of juxtaposition, repetition, and parallelism.
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
Lincoln's purpose of the speech was to honor the dead soldiers who had fought for equality, freedom, and national unity. This can be seen in, "...that we here highly
This “great task remaining before” the country was to ensure that “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom” so that “these dead shall not have died in vain.” This challenge is what makes the Gettysburg Address so significant, because it is not just a speech commemorating the bloodiest battle of the Civil War, it is also a speech meant to motivate the Union forces and civilians to keep this beautiful nation
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.
Lincoln’s optimistic tone encourages all Americans to put behind them the Civil War and progress forward as a united nation once more. President Lincoln calls to action all the peoples of America with sentences such as, “let us strive on to finish the work we are in” and “ to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace”. The tone that President Lincoln capitalizes on is purposefully optimistic because he hopes to end the war and move past the issue of slavery, among others, which has divided the nation, and he wishes to safeguard the nations reunification. Lincoln’s tone also has hortative sentences such as asking the American people to “strive”. President Lincoln also wishes to rid both sides of any grudges or rancor they may feel towards one another for the war by reflecting that “all sought to avert it” and by articulating, “Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it…attained”. And towards the end of his speech, Lincoln calls the nation to be unified “with malice towards none, with charity for all” so that their minds and souls may be cleared of any ill will in order for the nation’s reunification to be permanent and not just superficial. President Lincoln evokes the nation as a whole to a higher degree in hop...
Out of all the great authors and poets we have studied this semester I have chosen the three that I personally enjoyed reading the most; Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe, and Walt Whitman. These three Writers stand out above the rest for each has contributed substantially to bringing forth a newly earned respect for American Writers of Literature. Up until this point in time most literature had come from European writers. Hawthorne, Poe and Whitman brought not only great works of art to our newly formed nation, but also to the world in general.
Walt Whitman’s poem Time to Come explores Whitman’s curiosity of what happens when people die. Rather than taking a pessimistic approach, his writing is more insightful about the experience. The title alone introduces an aspect of his purpose; to point out that dying is inevitable. With Whitman captures the reader’s attention and shares his curiosity with vivid images, sophisticated diction, and his use of metaphor and personification in Time to Come.
Walt Whitman was a man that served as a nurse helping wounded soldiers in the Civil War. While he was there, he took what he saw and wrote them in his poems. Every aspect of each poem related to the time that he was in and he wrote about every experience and feeling he had about what he saw. Whitman had three themes that he used to focus all of his poems on and these themes were individuality, democracy, and freedom. With writing with these themes, Whitman could make an impact on what the reader imagined in their head while reading and he was also able to convey a certain feeling through his poems that he wanted the reader to feel. Whitman had a unique style of writing, which was free verse. Through free verse, Whitman could direct and write a poem in a way that he liked and in a way where he was able to give more detail rather than writing in a rhythmic way. Through Walt Whitman’s themes of individuality, democracy, and freedom, Whitman was able to express his feelings about war and leaders in the poems that he wrote during the Civil War time.