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A Rhetorical Analysis Of Lincoln's Speech

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A Rhetorical Analysis Of Lincoln's Speech
The seminal speeches “Gettysburg Address” written by President Abraham Lincoln and “I Have A Dream” written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are two of the most influential speeches in American history. The common theme of the two speeches are freedom and equality. This paper will analyze President Lincoln’s call for finishing the war for the North to save the nation and Dr. King’s demand to change racial injustice now.

Lincoln used rhetoric to persuade his audience to fight with the North. “Great civil war...great battlefield” and “testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure.” is a rhetorical device he used. Lincoln wanted his audience to know that the war was a worthy war and was necessary to save the nation. These quotes made the audience feel hope although they were tired. “Final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live” is another rhetorical device used to convince his audience to …show more content…
The repetition of “One hundred years later” is a rhetorical device used to “emphasize the horrors of black’s position in American life”. It takes the audience back to a dark place and they see that they are still in that dark place. “ Remind America of the fierce urgency of now...no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism” this rhetorical device is used to express the urgent need of change. The audience feels the tone of urgency and is encouraged to change. The repetition of “now is the time” is King demanding a change starting then and there. It pushes the audience to make a change and pulls the audience into the future. “We cannot be satisfied” is repeated to let the audience know that they will not be satisfied until blacks get all of their rights. The rhetorical device “I have a dream” is used to express King’s vision of perfection. This lets the audience make their own vision filled with hope for the near
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