What Are The Rhetorical Devices Used In The Gettysburg Address

Seven score and nine years ago, Abraham Lincoln, our sixteenth President of the United States of America, set off for Gettysburg in order to consecrate Gettysburg National Cemetery. In an uncharacteristically short speech-at least for the 1860s-Lincoln was able to reaffirm the values our Founding Fathers had laid down in the Declaration of Independence as well as the Constitution, and painted a vision of a unified United States where freedom and democracy would be the rule for all citizens. Lincoln utilized various rhetorical devices to make the Gettysburg Address accomplish two tasks in one. The first is to bring remembrance to the principals and morals for which the United States was built upon, second is to honor the brave soldiers who fought and died at Gettysburg and consecrate the land upon which they stood and finally was to sway those attending into giving their “…last full measure of devotion-” to ensure a nation that would remain built upon the concepts of liberty and democracy and continues to gain support for the cause of the war.. Seeking only to honor the dead and inspire the living, Lincoln ended up delivering one of the most powerful speeches in American-if not world-history.

He uses the words "who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract" to evoke a feeling of sadness in us. Lincoln talks about the soldiers and the ones "who struggled here." When you think of someone struggling, you think of them possibly being or getting hurt and that is sad and leaves you with an unsettling feeling. They struggled without us being able to help them, we were trying to end the war so the slaves were free and the soldiers are not getting hurt anymore. Also, at the end of the speech, he says, "and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Those words evoke a feeling of promise in us. "Shall not perish from the earth" gives us a feeling of promise. When something doesn’t perish, it doesn’t die. To have a government that will never die makes us feel good because no matter what, as long as we come out united from the Civil War, our government will be able to make it through everything that we go

In the last paragraph of the speech, President Lincoln is telling the American people that the proper way to honor the brave soldiers is to dedicate and devote your life to the country, one which there will be, “a new birth of freedom.” Lincoln points out this government will represent all the people, and will remain forever. President Lincoln, through this speech is trying heal the nation that is divided by the great Civil War, and offering

Abraham Lincoln states that “all men are created equal,” to show that this war was to put out the image that every man should not be treated differently from one another. Lincoln uses the quote to show that he believes in equality and unification because those men who went to fight in the war came together to gain freedom and equality and the citizens should not let the people who fought die in vain. He also proclaims “and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”, which discloses the fact that the people who fought

He repeats this subject in the following sentences, speaking of the consecration of, the hallowing of the ground on which the soldiers fought. Lincoln uplifts the efforts made by the soldiers above anything that might be said by those who did not participate in the battle, even though also including those who survived: "the brave men, living and dead." (Lincoln 1).

He states that the Civil War tested weather a nation with the standards and principals of the United States would make it. He dedicates the ground that the solders died on the great battle which they had just fought and stated that the solders would not be buried, but instead left were they fell in battle. Lincoln then tell the troops not the let the brave men who died’s deaths to have been in vein. He then says that the country shall have a new birth of freedom and that the United

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.

Mencken criticized Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, saying that it made no sense. To Mencken, the speech was just one of Lincoln’s political moves to gain more fame and win the people’s support, and Lincoln speech was untrue because Mencken believed that the speech was just mere words to soothe the listener. Mencken gave the opinion which he felt was right regarding the message Abraham Lincoln presented at the Gettysburg Address, by criticizing it as being “eloquent”, “poetry” and said that its “beauty” undercuts its “logic”, “sense” and “truth”.(Mencken 1920, 775). However, it was not true because during the speech in Gettysburg, Lincoln proved to the people that he was not just saying these things because they was “eloquent” and had “beauty”, but, because he had plans for the growth of the nation after the Civil War. Mencken presented Lincolns speech as “It is difficult to imagine anything more untrue” (Mencken 1920, 775).

Lincoln suggests that the two thoroughly different ideas of the North and South to become one once again, as he also juxtaposes life and death in the same speech, almost as to compare the ideals of the North and South to the ideas of life and death. Lincoln matched his uniting tone with his juxtaposed exemplars. Lincoln compassion for the Civil War is shown as he mourns the loss of many fellow Americans, not differentiating between Union and Confederate soldiers. He creates juxtaposition in his final statement of a “new birth” and the obstruction of a “perished” nation. His patriotic address charms his audience into action. The usage of juxtaposition allows Lincoln to transfer the zeal in his speech into action by uniting the people of America.

In his address, President Lincoln spoke of a different kind of freedom than what many may be led to believe. He did not talk about freedom from taxes or labor but the real reason the most crucial war America has faced yet was fought. It was hatred toward racial discrimination and slavery for which countless

Lincoln suggests that the two exceedingly contrary ideas of the North and South to become one once again, as he also juxtaposes life and death in the same speech, as to compare the ideals of the North and South to the ideas of life and death. Lincoln matched his uniting tone with his juxtaposed exemplars. Lincoln’s compassion for the Civil War is shown as he mourns the loss of many fellow Americans, not differentiating between Union and Confederate soldiers. He creates juxtaposition in his final statement of a “new birth” and the obstruction of a “perished” nation. His patriotic address appeals his audience into action. The usage of juxtaposition allows Lincoln to transfer the zeal in his speech into action by uniting the people of America.

He then stated that all the men who fought and died on the battle ground at Gettysburg shall not have died in vain due to the fact that they helped to fight a cause for a new nation with a new birth of freedom, most notably meaning the existence of a "government of the people, by the people, for the people" that won't perish from the earth (277).

Lincoln connects with his audience with a vulnerable tone as he reassures his audiences, saying that they, “have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives”. He then interchanges tones and addresses his audience, proclaiming that, “we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground” (Lincoln). Lincoln uses both sentences as a way to console and once again reinforce the people’s emotions, keeping their spirits high. More specifically Lincoln uses repetition in order to remind his audience that their comrades, who fought and perished, performed above and beyond their call to arms and, that the living, are unable to honor their brothers’ in arms more than the desire for victory has itself. This has a profound effect on Lincoln’s audience as it shows them that while their grief is justified so is cause for great

He ensures the audience that the men who died at Gettysburg will not be forgotten and that the best way to commend the fallen comrades are to finish the fight so the cause is not lost. He goes on to encourage his supporters to let the fallen soldiers be a basis for the new birth of freedom for the nation. In a way, the remainder of the speech is also an allusion to history. He focuses on the Battle of Gettysburg being a historically relevant part of the nations new birth and future. He says "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

​Abraham Lincoln addressed the people of the United States in his writing “The Gettysburg Address.” Lincoln’s speech addresses how our nation dealt with the struggle of equality and humanity. Lincoln’s strong ideas and beliefs on humanity are shown in his speech: “It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion” (503).