Safire Woods

Dee Martin
William Jordan
English 101
19 June 2013
Compare & Contrast
William Safire and James Woods are two totally different people, with different views and ideas, but share similar writing styles. In William Safire’s “A Spirit Reborn” he talks about the Gettysburg Address in comparison to 9/11 while also analyzing the Gettysburg Address in more depth and as a purpose for writing his article. On the other hand in “Victory Speech” by James Woods he talks about President Obama and how he flows through different things, he also offers some critique while analyzing certain details of Obama’s speech. President Lincoln’s famous speech the Gettysburg Address was given after a horrible incident with many tragic losses. In lieu of these destructive events our nation became stronger and bonded, “Now as then, a national spirit rose from the ashes of destruction” (Safire, 41). After the tragic events of 9/11 the Gettysburg Address was re-born to remind us to come together and encourage one another through tough times. Safire states in his essay that 9/11 was “the worst bloodbath on our territory since Antietam” (Safire 41). By reminding people of past events such as the battle of Antietam, Safire manages to hit a lot of strong emotions from his readers by comparing it to another major tragedy, 9/11. To reuse such a strong speech as the Gettysburg Address at a time such as after 9/11 was highly unlikely to be thought of since there were 138 years separating the events. In Safire’s analysis his focal point is the idiom “dedicate” and he illustrates the significance of its meaning each time it is used. He analyzes the Gettysburg Address in more detail explaining each of the references and the different meanings of the word as it changes with each use. “…you will hear the word dedicate five times…” (Safire 42) and what each one stands for. An example of this can be seen when he mentions that the first two refer to “the nation’s dedication of two ideals mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, the original ideals of ‘Liberty’ and the ideal that became central to the Civil War: ‘that all men are created equal” (Safire 42). The third is pointed towards a blessing of the location of the battle of Gettysburg, and the fourth and fifth dedications are focused on the ideas of liberty, which expresses all men are created equal.