Compare And Contrast Gettysburg And Secon Inaugural Address
Cesar Valenzuela
IB English
February 1, 2015
Writing Assignment 1 During President Lincolns lifespan, the 16th president became well known for his use of rhetoric in his speeches. When comparing “The Gettysburg Address” to “The Second Inaugural Address” one can see that Lincoln applied similar rhetoric. Both addresses contain parallelism and anti-thesis ; however, they differ in length and purpose. When comparing both pieces of literature one notices how the former 16th president uses parallelism in both “The Gettysburg Address” to “The Second Inaugural Address”. In “The Gettysburg Address” Abraham Lincoln uses parallelism in the following line “all dreaded it, all sought to avert it,” The reason being that he wanted to balance the two parties, and draw them together in the minds of the audience. Furthermore, Lincoln applies parallelism once more in “The Second Inaugural Address” when he says “We cannot dedicate- we cannot consecrate- we cannot hallow”. The parallelism in this quote also includes repetition within the word “we” which refers to America as one. Altogether, Abraham Lincoln uses parallelism in both addresses for the same resolve, to make the audience feel as they are one and bring them together. Another similar rhetoric device the author used is the anti-thesis. The anti-thesis presents two subjects, however one has more importance over the other. For example, the antithesis in “The Gettysburg Address” would be “"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.". Its purpose is to emphasize the difference between the two ideas of the address. Additionally, in “The Second Inaugural Address” the antithesis “On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war.” Serves as a comparison between the idea of slavery and unity, thus portraying the importance of one subject over another. Overall, the antithesis used by Abraham Lincoln
IB English
February 1, 2015
Writing Assignment 1 During President Lincolns lifespan, the 16th president became well known for his use of rhetoric in his speeches. When comparing “The Gettysburg Address” to “The Second Inaugural Address” one can see that Lincoln applied similar rhetoric. Both addresses contain parallelism and anti-thesis ; however, they differ in length and purpose. When comparing both pieces of literature one notices how the former 16th president uses parallelism in both “The Gettysburg Address” to “The Second Inaugural Address”. In “The Gettysburg Address” Abraham Lincoln uses parallelism in the following line “all dreaded it, all sought to avert it,” The reason being that he wanted to balance the two parties, and draw them together in the minds of the audience. Furthermore, Lincoln applies parallelism once more in “The Second Inaugural Address” when he says “We cannot dedicate- we cannot consecrate- we cannot hallow”. The parallelism in this quote also includes repetition within the word “we” which refers to America as one. Altogether, Abraham Lincoln uses parallelism in both addresses for the same resolve, to make the audience feel as they are one and bring them together. Another similar rhetoric device the author used is the anti-thesis. The anti-thesis presents two subjects, however one has more importance over the other. For example, the antithesis in “The Gettysburg Address” would be “"The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.". Its purpose is to emphasize the difference between the two ideas of the address. Additionally, in “The Second Inaugural Address” the antithesis “On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war.” Serves as a comparison between the idea of slavery and unity, thus portraying the importance of one subject over another. Overall, the antithesis used by Abraham Lincoln