Download The Gettysburg Address

The Gettysburg
Address
Examining Lincoln’s Vision and
Rhetoric
To Start:

Recall and Review: In studying earlier American
political oratory, we studied Aristotle’s three
rhetorical appeals. What were the names of
these appeals and to what part of the human
mind or soul did each appeal?
Pathos

The appeal to emotion – make the audience feel
and connect emotionally to your idea
Ethos

Appeal to the moral sense – help the audience
see that your idea is the right and moral thing to
do – also establish that you are a moral and
ethical person whose idea and word can be
trusted.
Logos

Appeal to logic and reason – show the audience
that your idea is sensible and is the smart thing
to do.
Objective


Students will read and analyze the rhetorical
appeals Lincoln used in his Gettysburg Address.
Students will identify an example of parallelism
in Lincoln’s speech and will then create their
own examples of parallelism.
The Gettysburg Address


Lincoln gave this short
speech on 19 November,
1863 at the dedication of the
cemetery for those killed at
the battle of Gettysburg in
July of 1863.
Though Lincoln first thought
that his speech was a failure,
it quickly became one of the
greatest and most treasured
examples of American
oratory.
The Gettysburg Address

The speech can be found
on page 388 in the new
anthologies.
The Gettysburg Address -- Analysis


Working in pairs or threes, please identify at least
one specific appeal to pathos (emotion), ethos
(morality), and logos (logic/reason).
Compile a group report in the following format:
Rhetorical appeal
 Quote
 Explanation of how this quote appeals to the
appropriate part of the mind (short para.)

The Gettysburg Address -- Analysis



Find the definition of parallelism in the text.
Identify an example of parallelism in Lincoln’s
speech. Then analyze the impact or effect of
these words on the audience. What does this
rhetorical device allow Lincoln to communicate?
Create your own example of rhetorical
parallelism. What effect will your words have?
What will be communicated?
Wrap Up


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To conclude, what example of parallelism was
found in Lincoln’s speech? What is its effect?
What original examples of parallelism did you
create? How do your words affect a likely
audience?
Was there one rhetorical appeal that you had
difficulty in finding? Which one? What are the
likely reasons for this?