Keyahnna Lindsey

RA
Within Lincolns motivational speech The Gettysburg Address delivered after this
tragic battle, he earnestly shifts from the strong foundations of America to the present strife and
hardships endured from the American Civil War to a promising future in order to persuade both
civilians and surviving soldiers present to continue fighting in order to reestablish freedom and
unify the country so that it shall not perish from this earth (19).
As Lincoln urges the revival of the primary principles of the nation, he establishes his
credibility to ensure a promising future of freedom and equality, by the collective use of we
and our usage. These collective pronoun usages are applied to the speech for the purpose of
showing Lincolns desire for his audience to see that he is just like them, and just because he has
been chosen for a higher purpose doesnt mean that the people cant rise just as high to make a
difference. The president is only a guide to motivate the people, to ensure the fight for liberty
and equality among the nation. The nation conceived in liberty (2) is the basic format that
Lincoln pushes for and because he uses the collective pronouns we and our he makes the
audience see that it is their nation that will suffer if they dont take action which in turn will
make their dead family members fight in battle, pointless. Therefore, if the people can come
together as one, they will be able to see how the nation is in need of loyalty and compassion for
the nation and its future outcome. This attachment portrays the land of the nation as land that is
to be sacred to the people in order to make them feel attached to the nation and to make the fight
for justice something to risk their lives for. And as to proceed to pump more enthusiasm into the
people of the nation, Lincoln implements impassioning antithesis usage, to get the people to want
a non-perishable nation, by being forthright about the situation and by showing a limit of time
for the people to take action for it. Lincolns intended purpose of the antithesis is to give the
audience a perspective of the consequences of waiting to take action for freedom and the
advantages of taking the initiative. He informs them that if they dont unify and help the nation
get back on its feet, then the nation will not nobly advance (14) and the brave men, living and
dead (10) who so loved this country enough to fight for it, will be of no meaning and no
precedence, to motive them into being more passionate about the nations life. And Lincoln uses
the fact that no one can add or detract (11-12) to the fight others have already made, to get on a
more understanding and emotional level of the people, to persuade them to bring to life a
stronger infrastructure of freedom which will give the people a greater, more specified reason to
continue to fight, which is to not belittle the dead by giving up fighting for equality and to make
the nation unable to perish from this earth (19) completely.