One month prior to the end of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln gave his Second Inaugural Address. The address, spoken before his second term as president, was intended to give his views on the causes of the Civil War and to list reasons why the war started. In the speech, Lincoln addresses the reasons and causes of the war and tries to bring the North and South together. In order to convince the two to unite once more, Lincoln uses alliteration, allusion, synecdoche, and metonymy to make his point and purpose clear. Lincoln utilizes alliteration in order to achieve his purpose of uniting the two unions together.
By bringing a sense of unity, he tries to achieve peace and ease in the tension. By appealing to reason, he wants to describe how “all dreaded it, all sought to avert it,” so why not use their united power to get a compromise and work out the big triggering social problem, slavery. In addition, this quotation also is important due to Lincoln’s approach of “no accusations.” By including “all,” he wants to emphasize that they are “all” in it together. Later, Lincoln uses chiasmus (inversion of words in a recognizable repetitive way) with, “let us judge not, that we be not judged.” This inverted diction is to emphasize God’s change in mind, the switch from letting
President Lincoln being well known as “Honest Abe” to countless individuals and being the President of the United States surely give him the credibility of having ethos in his speech. "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."(Lincoln). This quote from President Lincoln shows another ethos approach to his speech by saying when the country was initially
In a state of turmoil, unification is essential for a country to successfully move forward under one power. In his Second Inaugural Address, United States President Abraham Lincoln mentions the destruction created after the Civil War but also the peace that will come for the future of the country. Abraham Lincoln attempts to unite the American people after the Civil War through the use of confidently hopeful tone, the appeal to emotions, and the use of Biblical references. Throughout the Inaugural Address, Lincoln maintains a confidently hopeful tone towards the United States citizens to ensure there would ultimately be unity. He states in a flashback that “four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war.” This is to mainly contrast the mindset the citizens of the United States have with the one he has.
Throughout the speech, Lincoln seldom utilizes dividing diction such as “you”, “I” or “them” that implies that the people, and even the speaker, are separate from one another. Instead, he utilizes unifying terms, such as in “We are met on a great battle-field 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”(Lincoln, #). Numerous times throughout this section the term “we” can be seen, which Lincoln used specifically as it is a unifying term. The term brings together the speaker and the audience as one, leaving no room for
In 1863 there was a battle, the battle of Gettysburg. It was a civil war that lasted for three days and more than 50,000 people died. So Abraham Lincoln’s speech was actually to honor the fallen soldiers and to remind the people that they were fighting for
President Abraham Lincoln, in his inaugural address, addresses the topic of the civil war and its effects on the nation and argues that America could be unified once more. He supports his claim by using massive amounts of parallel structure and strong word choice. Lincoln ‘s purpose is to contemplate the effects of the civil war in order to unite the broken America once again. He adopts a very hopeful tone for his audience, the readers of the inaugural address and others interested in the topic of American history and the civil war. To begin, President Lincoln strengthens his points by using parallel structure in paragraph by exclaiming “All dreaded it, all sought to avert it”.
"Shall it be peace, or the sword?" Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). There are many qualities a president must have to be a good president. Those qualities include being the United States symbol of all people in the nation, being a good public speaker, taking control over the nations armed forces, and being the architect of the nation's public policies. Abraham Lincoln showed all of these great qualities during his presidency from 1861-1865.
The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln signaled the ending of the Battle of Gettysburg and the American Civil War. The Gettysburg Address has dedicated to our nation the freedom that all men are equal. The brave soldiers who have risked their lives so that our new nation could be conceived in liberty will forever be remembered. Abraham Lincoln used literary devices like alliteration, repetition, and personification to produce a special effect in his speech. He stated his speech off with an allusion.
The 44th and first African American President, Barack Obama, in his Inaugural Address, promotes a call to action. Obama’s purpose is to express his gratitude for his opportunity to become president and discuss his plans for economic advancement. In order to reach the American people of the U.S., Obama adopts a serious and thought-provoking tone to urge them to support his plans for advancement. During this time of economic crisis, Obama clearly conveys to the American people through his use of metaphor, allusion, and anaphora, that it is time to take a stand and make a change in America. Throughout his speech, Barack Obama’s use of metaphor allows the audience to make powerful connections and conclusions; therefore, persuading them to support his plans.