Rhetorical Analysis of The Gettysburg Address Essay Example

The Gettysburg Address was a speech given by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It is one of the most popular speeches in American world history. He talks about honor, life, death, and the rebuilding of a new nation. The nation was built from blood and sacrifice so we could have freedom. The idea of freedom for everyone is now the reason the nation is being torn apart. Lincoln uses many rhetorical devices as a way of making his speech more impactful. 

In this speech, there are many rhetorical devices being used all over. They are all there for a purpose, a purpose to really illiterate his ideas. Lincoln uses logos as a logical appeal to open his speech stating that eighty-seven years ago our fathers fought so we could have liberty and freedom. “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.” Ethos is used to honor and uplift the men who fought and gave their lives to preserve our nation. "We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who gave their lives so that the nation might live." The most powerful rhetorical device Lincoln uses is pathos, it uses emotion and feelings to help pull people’s emotions into the conflict. "That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.” This is the final sentence from the Gettysburg Address, but one of the most powerful. It gives a gleam of hope to the people that feel the dark heavy burden of war.

A rhetorical appeal is not the only thing used to help strengthen writing. Repetition is used all throughout the speech. “we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground” The constant use of the phrase “we cannot” is used very specifically here. Lincoln is trying to ensure it is known that they cannot dedicate this bloody field, but the men who fought and died here are the ones who can. Parallels are also used, for example the second paragraph begins with 'Now we are’ in the first sentence and 'we are' in the second. This emphasizes the united nature of those present at the dedication. Lincoln uses euphemism in his second paragraph also, when he calls a cemetery a "final resting place." The battlefield he was dedicating as a cemetery was more like a slaughterhouse. When the Battle of Gettysburg was finished, the corpses of more than 7,000 men and 5,000 horses and mules lay rotting on that cursed battle field. 

Lincoln uses many rhetorical devices as a way of making his speech more impactful. The whole idea that his speech was written on is still very relevant today. The idea of the nation still being split apart, not by slavery, but by morals and ideas. The view on gender, race, and economy are slowly harrowing us apart. The idea that Lincoln brings that we need to unite and hold the nation together so we do not destroy ourselves again is very alive still to this day.