Rhetorical Analysis of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
Were women in the 1850s not valued more than to live life as concubines? The Antebellum Period was a pre-Civil War time with the vast majority of white men positioned as the head of the house, women and wives below them at their service, and the Negro population left inferior to all. Celia, a female African-American slave, encountered the many prejudices the divided American nation had to offer. The newly widowed, white male Robert Newsome of Callaway County, Missouri, purchased Celia in 1850 for the sole purpose of sexual intercourse. For five long years, Newsome repetitively raped the fifteen-year-old child. Throughout the duration of her enslavement, the young girl conceived three …show more content…
He spoke on the behalf of those who sacrificed their lives for the hope of a unified nation. Lincoln addressed, “Now we are engaged in a great civil war”, which forwarded the time of his speech to the present day memorial in Gettysburg; subsequently, he followed with his goal of unification among the citizens with the use of plural collective pronouns (Lincoln Abraham Lincoln Online). The utilization of collective pronouns such as “we”, “us”, and “our”, enabled Lincoln to verbally unite himself to the American people. He connected himself to the citizens in statements such as: “our fathers”, “we are engaged”, “we have come”, and “it is for us” (Lincoln Abraham Lincoln Online). He never distinguished between male or female, black or white, north or south, or even young to old. The all-inclusive speech allowed those who listened and those who later read his speech feel completely involved. A singled out American did not exist. A rich man connected to Lincoln’s speech with sentiment parallel to that of a poor man’s. Through the usage of collective plural pronouns, Lincoln’s speech not only unified the citizens to one another, but also to their president. The service took place at the very location the Battle of Gettysburg occurred. Lincoln illustrated the setting as he pointed out, “We are met on a great battlefield of that war” (Abraham Lincoln Online). Moreover, he …show more content…
The utilization of punctuation and repetition allowed him to stimulate the citizens of a broken nation in a positive way. From common knowledge, one may know it is fairly simple to regress after a travesty. Lincoln acknowledged there was no time to spare. His speech was succinct. Each statement proved necessary and his principles were in depth. The president harnessed repetition as his tactic of motivation; thus, allowing his audience to absorb the information. Lincoln emphasized, “We can not dedicate – we can not consecrate – we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract” (Abraham Lincoln Online). Hyphens and commas underlined the message he desired to convey, even on a spiritual level. The punctuations served as a strong symbol to enforce focus on the meaning of Lincoln’s speech. His words and pauses reflected compassion and gratitude. He respected the men who fought and called attention that the dead’s actions spoke louder than words. Notice he used the power of a triple when referencing what they, the people, could not do. Lincoln stressed there was nothing more he and the citizens could do that could remotely compare to what the men who died on that battlefield had already done. He set a goal when he declared, “It is for us living, rather, to be dedicated
Were women in the 1850s not valued more than to live life as concubines? The Antebellum Period was a pre-Civil War time with the vast majority of white men positioned as the head of the house, women and wives below them at their service, and the Negro population left inferior to all. Celia, a female African-American slave, encountered the many prejudices the divided American nation had to offer. The newly widowed, white male Robert Newsome of Callaway County, Missouri, purchased Celia in 1850 for the sole purpose of sexual intercourse. For five long years, Newsome repetitively raped the fifteen-year-old child. Throughout the duration of her enslavement, the young girl conceived three …show more content…
He spoke on the behalf of those who sacrificed their lives for the hope of a unified nation. Lincoln addressed, “Now we are engaged in a great civil war”, which forwarded the time of his speech to the present day memorial in Gettysburg; subsequently, he followed with his goal of unification among the citizens with the use of plural collective pronouns (Lincoln Abraham Lincoln Online). The utilization of collective pronouns such as “we”, “us”, and “our”, enabled Lincoln to verbally unite himself to the American people. He connected himself to the citizens in statements such as: “our fathers”, “we are engaged”, “we have come”, and “it is for us” (Lincoln Abraham Lincoln Online). He never distinguished between male or female, black or white, north or south, or even young to old. The all-inclusive speech allowed those who listened and those who later read his speech feel completely involved. A singled out American did not exist. A rich man connected to Lincoln’s speech with sentiment parallel to that of a poor man’s. Through the usage of collective plural pronouns, Lincoln’s speech not only unified the citizens to one another, but also to their president. The service took place at the very location the Battle of Gettysburg occurred. Lincoln illustrated the setting as he pointed out, “We are met on a great battlefield of that war” (Abraham Lincoln Online). Moreover, he …show more content…
The utilization of punctuation and repetition allowed him to stimulate the citizens of a broken nation in a positive way. From common knowledge, one may know it is fairly simple to regress after a travesty. Lincoln acknowledged there was no time to spare. His speech was succinct. Each statement proved necessary and his principles were in depth. The president harnessed repetition as his tactic of motivation; thus, allowing his audience to absorb the information. Lincoln emphasized, “We can not dedicate – we can not consecrate – we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract” (Abraham Lincoln Online). Hyphens and commas underlined the message he desired to convey, even on a spiritual level. The punctuations served as a strong symbol to enforce focus on the meaning of Lincoln’s speech. His words and pauses reflected compassion and gratitude. He respected the men who fought and called attention that the dead’s actions spoke louder than words. Notice he used the power of a triple when referencing what they, the people, could not do. Lincoln stressed there was nothing more he and the citizens could do that could remotely compare to what the men who died on that battlefield had already done. He set a goal when he declared, “It is for us living, rather, to be dedicated