The Civil War, a dark time in
American History, was filled with battles that took place in Abraham Lincolns
attempt to restore the united nature of the United States of America. Abraham
Lincoln, president of the United States for the duration of the war, gave a
famous speech after one of the most famous battles of the war. The Gettysburg
address was named such due to the fact that Abraham Lincoln gave it after the
battle of Gettysburg. Lincoln implemented an allusion to the Declaration of
Independence and Inspirational diction to both honor the dead and inspire his
people to keep fighting.
Lincoln
implemented an allusion to the Declaration of Independence to inspire his
people. One of the most famous and well-known documents in American history,
the people of the United States would presumably be familiar with it. Lincoln
told citizens that, “this nation
shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." By alluding to
one of the most well known quotes of this well-known document, Lincoln intended
to strike at the patriotism of his people, and remind them what they were
fighting for. Freedom, one of the ideals that founded the United States of America
was an ideal that Lincoln knew would inspire his people to continue on. Thus,
Lincoln’s allusion successfully inspired his people by reminding them what they
were in the war for.
Inspirational and tactical diction
was implemented to honor the spirit of the fallen soldiers and put a good name
on the war. Or, in other words, to make the war seem like a task of honor
rather then one of pointless demise. For example, Lincoln refers to the civil
war as “great”, rather then dark or unfortunate and refers to the fallen as “Brave”
and “noble”, rather then simply people who had been killed. By doing so, he
puts a positive spin on the war and successfully reminds the people what the
fallen soldiers died for, and what the living citizens should continue to fight
for.
Lincoln’s Gettysburg address successfully
struck at the spirits of American citizens, and with the use of allusion and
inspiring diction, inspired them to fight on.
 |
| Gettysburg Address http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gettysburgaddress.htm Actual Speech Source: http://www.ushistory.org/documents/gettysburg.htm |
No comments:
Post a Comment