Gettysburg Address Rhetorical Analysis

Abraham Lincoln had carefully-crafted the Gettysburg address. This speech was extremely short but, it was full of information and writing strategies. One way he helps get his point across was through the use of rhetorical strategies. Lincoln’s purpose for the “Gettysburg Address” was to dedicate a portion of the battlefield and motivate the Union to win the war. He uses the rhetorical devices of repeated diction, parallelism, and juxtaposition to achieve his purpose.

In 1863, the Civil War raged on in America and July saw one of the bloodiest battles in American history, and the bloodiest of the Civil War. The Battle of Gettysburg came at a tremendous cost to both sides; an estimated 51,000 soldiers died during the three-day onslaught. This battle questioned both sides will to fight. Morale was running extremely low and many people wanted the war to be over. On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address to honor the fallen soldiers and to try to revive the war fervor that many Americans had lost.

Lincoln (1863) began his speech with “Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Being president, Lincoln’s audience was persuaded of his credibility; Furthermore, the use of the rhetorical device ethos can be found in the first sentence of the Gettysburg Address. Ethos is an appeal to ethics; this device is used to convince the directed audience of the credibility of the speaker. In Lincoln’s first sentence he expresses knowledge of the creation of a new nation, after a deadly and costly three-day battle, known as the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln wanted to remind the people what this great nation was built upon.

Four and a half months after the union defeated the Confederacy at the Battle of the 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. This speech immensely created high morale for the soldiers. Before the address, the Civil War was based on the states’ rights. Lincoln’s speech held values of the Declaration of Independence and had America’s future salvation in mind.

In Lincoln’s speech he recognized the losses that the union suffered and honored the dead with his most famous speech, it was about the purpose of the soldier’s sacrifice, equality, freedom, and national unity. The speech didn’t have much effect during his lifetime, in many ways it was forgotten and lost to popular memory until the U.S. centennial in 1876, when its significance was reconsidered in light of the war’s

President Abraham Lincoln was one of the most honest and most popular of all of the presidents. For a large part of that presidency, however, he was only president of half of the country due to the nature of the American Civil War. Throughout his time in office, he was able to deliver many great speeches, of which include the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address. In both of these orations, he uses primarily uses ethical appeals to assist in the deliverance of and strengthen the main themes.

In "The Gettysburg Address," Abraham Lincoln's purpose is to honor the dead, and end the war by accomplishing the unfinished work that those who died, died for. Abraham Lincoln delivers his speech with an inspirational and motivational tone. The usage of the elements repetition and parallelism establish his devotion for his determination. Throughout Abrahan Lincoln's speech, he introduces variety of repetitions to assist his goal.

.we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow this ground.” The use of repetition of the word “cannot” emphasizes the fact that if the nation’s people do not work together, they will not reunify. The speech was given as Lincoln

Lincoln’s speech in the Gettysburg Address lasted about two minutes and only few from the large audience comprehended what he had stated (Cochran 1). It was over so quickly that the audience lacked an applause (Cochran 1). Lincoln was very self conscious of his speeches and with a lack of an applause from the large audience, it made lincoln believe that he had failed them. Though they hadn’t understood what he meant at that moment in time, from this day forward Lincoln’s speech had become one of the best speeches in American History that gave a purpose to the nation.

Lincoln’s speech contained neither happiness nor sadness. Rather, the speech was a reflection of the causes and meaning of war. The speech was greeted with misunderstanding. Many thought Lincoln would provide a victory speech for the North or blame the South for the evil of slavery. Lincoln’ address only contains 703 words, which is also of the shortest inaugural addresses recorded. Throughout the address, Lincoln mentions God, the Scripture, and invokes prayer. Frederick Douglass, abolitionist leader, wrote in his journal, “The address sounded more like a sermon than a state paper” (Autobiographies, 802).

The time of the speech was towards the end of the civil war, when the North and the South where still fighting after a bitter 4 year war. The battle of Gettysburg had already been fought and Lincoln had given the distinguished Gettysburg address just a few months before. He spoke of freedom, devotion, and the ideals for which he believed the Union stood. Lincoln had also already written the emancipation proclamation which had freed the slaves of the south in the previous year. The audience which

The Gettysburg Address is one of the most famous speeches in American history. The History Place indicates that on November 19, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln went to a battle field positioned in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania where three dreadful days of battle occurred called the Battle of Gettysburg. While he was attending the battle field to dedicate it as a national cemetery, he read his speech to the public. After the main orator, Edward Everett of Massachusetts, delivered his speech that lasted about two hours, it was Lincoln’s turn. Everyone was shocked that it only lasted a little over two minutes. The speech talked about the men who fought in the Civil War to help create the nation people have today: that it is only fair to honor them

This speech has just ten sentences and 272 words but Lincoln was able to use this speech to make a lasting impact that would not just be for the audience at Gettysburg, but will also be remembered throughout history. The speech conveyed was about the war and the beginning of the human rights and reasons why soldiers gave their lives. He reassured the benefits that the founding fathers had made during the declaration of independence and the constitution. Abraham Lincoln presumed that the war would end when there is a union victory but he also wants the people to know that if the country merges together as one,

“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 (The Gettysburg Address).” Some might know those words as the beginning paragraph of one of the greatest speeches ever written. The speech was presented by Abraham Lincoln on November 19,1863 in front of a crowd of 15,000 (Santamaria-Wheeler). He gave this speech at the dedication for a military cemetery at Gettysburg in Pe¬nnsylvania (Lincoln). A couple of months before the speech was given, this place was a war zone.

I believe he is again focusing on preserving the country and uniting all Americans, North and South, behind the nation and reminding them of our common history. President Lincoln also refers to the dedication of the Battlefield of Gettysburg, emphasizing that this is,” a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.” Clearly, Lincoln wants to remind all citizens that these thousands of casualties were for a great purpose of preserving this country, not dividing it through a Civil War.