Rhetorical Devices in Famous Speeches

Lincolns Gettysburg AddressAnnotation Activity

STEP 1: Allusions are references it!in a literary or" to anot!er fa#ous literary or"$ or" of art$ or !istorical event% &ind at least t!ree allusions in t!e te't of t!e s(eec!% )o $ label ne't to eac! !at !istorical literary source is being alluded to% Lincoln follo ed t!e ancient for# of t!e funeral oration or eulogy% +n t!is$ t!e s(ea"er (rovides (raise for t!e dead it! advice for t!e living% +n t!e te't of t!e s(eec!$ dra a bo' around t!e (ortion of t!e s(eec! t!at includes (rovides praise for the dead. )o $ use anot!er color to dra a bo' around t!e (ortion of t!e s(eec! t!at includes t!e advice for the living% Hint: All the words in the speech should be included in one category or the other! +n contrast to t!e t!e#e of deat!$ Lincoln carefully c!ose ords t!at relate to new life. -ig!lig!t t!ree ords !ic! !ave a connotation of ne life% Lincoln also uses parallelism% T!is is t!e device t!at uses a re(etition of a gra##atical structure for effect% Put asteris"s / 0 1 ne't to t o sentences t!at de#onstrate parallelism% Lincoln uses antithesis33t!e (lacing of a sentence or one of its (arts against anot!er o((osing sentence /or (art1 in order to for# a balanced contrast of ideas /as in Give #e liberty or give #e deat!1 Put a star ne't to a sentence t!at de#onstrates antithesis% Diction refers to t!e aut!ors c!oice and arrange#ent of ords% -o ould you describe !is diction5 6!y ould !e c!oose to do t!is5 -ig!lig!t a sentence t!at s!o s t!is diction% Asyndeton is a lac" of con8unctions bet een (!rases or clauses% -ig!lig!t and label t!e sentence !ere asyndeton is evident% Anaphora is !en a s(ea"er uses a re(etition of t!e beginning of a (!rase or clause for effect% :ircle a sentence t!at uses ana(!ora% Lincolns s(eec! is #asterful in !at it says$ but also genius in !at !as been left out< 6ords are c!osen carefully to #a"e (o erful state#ents it!out lengt!y descri(tions% =e#ar"ably$ t!e s(eec! only contains *71 ords$ and lasted less t!an t o #inutes< -o #any ti#es does Lincoln use t!e ords >nion$ :onfederacy$ )ort! or Sout!5 ???????????? 6!at does !e call us5 ??????????? -o #any details and statistics of t!e battle of Gettysburg are included5 ????????????? -o #any ti#es does !e use t!e ord @nation5 ??????????? STEP 1A: SB% % % !at idea as Lincoln trying to convey by t!is careful ord c!oice5

STEP *:

STEP ,: STEP .:

STEP 2:

STEP 4:

STEP 7: STEP 9: STEP ;:

)o s!are understanding of T!e Gettysburg Address it! your class by co#(leting one of t!e t!ree activities described belo :

1% Create a Wordle Word Cloud! /

% ordle%net1 +nclude:

S(ea"ers na#e S(eec! title Cate of s(eec! Pur(ose of s(eec! *D Euotations fro# t!e s(eec! Any ordsF(!rases significant fro# s(eec! /siGed according to significance1 At least *A ele#ents< At least , r!etorical devices used in s(eec!

*% Create a PowerPoint !ic! President Lincoln could !ave used if !e !ad delivered !is fa#ous s(eec! it! todays tec!nology% Presentations #ust: :ontain 2D slides &ollo sa#e organiGational for#at as !istorical s(eec! +nclude s(ea"er notes t!at include t!e actual te't of t!e s(eec! to #atc! u( it! !at is (resented on t!e slide &ollo t!e rules of good Po erPoint construction t!at e !ave studied< ,% Create a Found Poem of T!e Gettysburg Address% A found (oe# is s!a(ed fro# a collection of ords or (!rases found in t!e !istorical te't% Hou barro t!e ords$ and rearrange to create (oetry< +t reEuires you to return to t!e te't and focus on its ideas and language% Select no #ore t!an eig!t interesting ords or s!ort (!rases% &or#at you (oe# to your li"ing% +nclude an original title /unli"e t!e s(eec!s title1% )o your (oe# ill !ave carefully c!osen #eaning t!at HB> !ave created as ell as