Rhetorical Devices in Famous Speeches
Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”—Annotation Activity
Abraham Lincoln was a master orator and an expert lawyer. He was keenly aware that the form of a piece of writing affects what the author can say to his or her audience. A speech, such as the Gettysburg Address, is often prepared for a specific audience. The speaker chooses rhetorical techniques that influence the audience and evoke emotion.
STEP 1:Allusionsare references within a literary work to another famous literary work, work of art, or historical event. Find twoallusionsin the text of the speech. Now, label next to each what historical literary source or historical event is being alluded to.
STEP 2: Lincoln followed the ancient form of thefuneral orationoreulogy. In this, the speaker provides praise for the dead with advice for the living. In the text of the speech, draw a box around the portion of the speech that includes providespraise for the dead. Now, use another color to draw a box around the portion of the speech that includes theadvice for the living.Hint:Allthe words in the speech should be included in one category or the other!
STEP 3: In contrast to the theme of death, Lincoln carefully chose words that relate tonew life. Highlight three words that have a connotation of new life.
STEP 4: Lincoln also usesparallelism. This is the device that uses a repetition of a grammatical structure for effect. Put asterisks ( * ) next to two sentences that demonstrateparallelism.
STEP 5: Lincoln usesantithesis--the placing of a sentence or one of its parts against another opposing sentence (or part) in order to form a balanced contrast of ideas (as in “Give me liberty or give me death”) Put a star next to a sentence that demonstratesantithesis.
STEP 6:Dictionrefers to the author’s choice and arrangement of words. Explain why Lincoln made the following word choices:
- How many times does Lincoln use the words Union, Confederacy, North or South? ______
- How many times does he use the word ‘nation’? ______…the word “here”? ______
- How many times does he use the word “we”? ______
STEP 7:Asyndetonis alackof conjunctions between phrases or clauses. Highlight and label the sentence where asyndetonis evident.
STEP 8:Anaphorais when a speaker uses a repetition of the beginning of a phrase or clause for effect. Circle a sentence that uses anaphora.
STEP 9:Lincoln’s speech is masterful in what it says, but also genius in what has beenleft out! Words are chosen carefully to make powerful statements without lengthy descriptions. Remarkably, the speech contains only 271 words and lasted less than two minutes.
- How many details and statistics of the Battle of Gettysburg are included? ______Why?
STEP 10: SO. . . what was Lincoln trying to convey by this careful word choice and use of rhetorical devices?
The Gettysburg Address
BACKGROUND: The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1-3, 1863. The victory for Union forces marked a turning point in the Civil War, but the losses on both sides were staggering: 28,000 Confederate soldiers and 23,000 Union soldiers were killed or wounded. Lincoln delivered this speech on November 19, 1863, at a ceremony dedicating a national cemetery on the battle site.
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield 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. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
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; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, 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.
Rhetorical Devices
Parallelism
Parallelism is the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or similar in their construction, sound, meaning or meter.
*Equivalent things are set forth in coordinate grammatical structures: nouns with nouns, prepositional phrases with prepositional phrases, adverb clauses with adverb clauses, etc.
a. “…for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor” (The Declaration of Independence)
b. “We have seen the state of our Union in the endurance of rescuers, working past exhaustion. We’ve seen the unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers – in English, Hebrew, and Arabic.” (George W. Bush, 9- 20-01 Address to the Nation on Terrorism)
c. “So Janey waited a bloom time, and a green time and an orange time.” (Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God)
d. “It will be long before our larger life interprets itself in such imagination as Hawthorne’s, such wisdom as Emerson’s, such poetry as Longfellow’s, such prophesy as Whittier’s, such grace as Holmes’s, such humor and humanity as Lowell’s.” (William Dean Howells)
e. I said I’d improve the deficit. I did it. I said I’d end the war in Iraq. I did it. I said I’d get people jobs. I did it.
Antithesis ______
a figure of speech in which an opposition or contrast of ideas is expressed by parallelism of words that are the opposites of, or strongly contrasted with, each other, such as “hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.”
The contrast may be in words or in ideas or both. When used well, antithesis can be very effective, even witty.
a. “ What if I am rich, and another is poor—strong, and he is weak—intelligent, and he is benighted—elevated, and he is depraved? Have we not one Father? Hath not one God created us?” (William Lloyd Garrison, “No Compromise with Slavery”)
b. “Your forefathers crossed the great water and landed on this island. Their numbers were small. They found friends and not enemies. They told us they had fled from their own country for fear of wicked men, and had come here to enjoy their religion. They asked for a small seat. We took pity on them, granted their request; and they sat down amongst us. We gave them corn and meat; they gave us poison in return.” (Red Jacket, 1805)
c. “Though studious, he was popular; though argumentative, he was modest; though inflexible, he was candid; and though metaphysical, yet orthodox.” (Samuel Johnson).
d. It is the best of times, yet the worst of times: we live in unparalleled prosperity, yet have starvation; modern science can perform miracles to save lives, yet we have war; we balance ourselves delicately on the moon, yet destroy the delicate balance on the earth. Young people search for meaning in life, yet are confused, demoralized, frustrated.” (Jesse E. Hobson, article from America)
Asyndeton ( a SIN da ton)
______
the omission or absence of a conjunction between parts of a sentence.
*The effects of this device are to emphasize each clause and to produce a punctuated rhythm in the sentence.
a. “I came, I saw, I conquered.” (Julius Caesar)
b. "Dogs, undistinguishable in mire. Horses, scarcely better--splashed to their very blinkers. Foot passengers, jostling one another's umbrellas, in a general infection of ill temper . . .." (Charles Dickens, Bleak House)
- “...that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. “ (John F. Kennedy)
Anaphora ______
the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences
*This device produces a strong emotional effect, especially in speech. It also establishes a marked change in rhythm.
- "We shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island . . . we shall never surrender." (Winston Churchill, 1940)
- “Why should white people be running all the stores in our community? Why should white people be running the banks of our community? Why should the economy of our community be in the hands of the white man? Why?” (Malcolm X)
- "Yesterday, the Japanese government also launched an attack against Malaysia. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island." (Franklin Roosevelt, Pearl Harbor Address)