Blake

Within Abraham Lincolns persuasive speech titled The Gettysburg Address

regarding the Civil War just after the deadly Battle of Gettysburg, directed at the
civilians of America, Lincoln shifts from the past to the present and finally to the
future in order to prove that the citizens must band together
once again to ensure that the [democratic] government shall not perish from the
earth, because the preservation of the nation and democracy is of the utmost
importance.
Lincoln, relaying his speech to the audience at Gettysburg, persuades the
civilians and members of his country to band together by demonstrating the
country and its government as a virtuous child. Lincoln persuades the audience
with Asyndeton, highlighting and emphasizing the purpose of not letting the three
aspects, government being of, by, and for the people, of government perish. Lincoln
persuades with omission of a conjunction allows the series to flow and emphasis to
be placed upon each clause in the sentence. Lincoln wants the goal to be for all
three of these missions to be accomplished by the American people and his military,
not just one or two that may lie in front of a nonexistent conjunction like and.
Asyndeton highlights and emphasizes the purpose of not letting the three
government features, being of, by, and for the people perish. This allows Lincoln to
reach his audience in a direct way and emphasize his purpose and objective of the
Gettysburg Address. Because omission of a conjunction allows the series to flow,
Lincoln uses asyndeton to emphasize each clause in the sentence. Lincoln wants
the goal to be for all three of these missions to be accomplished by the American
people and his military, not just one or two that may lie in front of a nonexistent
conjunction like and. Lincoln also utilizes epiphora to also bring out the simplicity
and conciseness of his cause in the address. Lincoln does not distract audience with
filler words and conjunctions frivolously to better achieve his goal demonstrated in
the Address. This simplicity and straightforwardness may have also appealed to the
people of his nation in such a confusing and dangerous time.
Similar to the fashion in which famous orators and politicians, such as Martin
Luther King Jr. and the many presidents to grace the White House, have crafted
speeches to maintain an underlying effect, one deeper than surface level
vocabulary, Lincoln strives to use literary elements and rhetorical devices to
persuade his audience to his mission. Allusions throughout our modern culture are
still made to Lincolns Address, as it is a timeless and authentic piece of historical
rhetoric.

My Strengths: Equivocal flow

Good at punctuation
Slightly above mediocre vocabulary
My Weaknesses: Repetition
Vague