“Gettysburg Address” Frankenstein Essay - AP English Language and Composition

Grace Ordonez Irene pototskiy

Within Abraham Lincoln’s pervasive speech entitled the In lincoln's persuasive speech entitled Gettysburg

Gettysburg Address regarding the divide of the nation given to address, regarding the divide between the nation, given to the

union soldiers and civilians during the dedication of the field he union soldiers and civilians during the dedication of the field, he

passionately shifts from outlining the stable foundation to passionately shifts from outlining the stable foundations to

exposing the reality of the current tensions in order to unify the exposing the reality of current tensions that occur currency, in

country by ensuring that “all men are created equal.” (2-3) order to unify the country, ensuring that “all men are created

forming a just nation for all. equal” forming a just nation for all. (lincoln 2-3)

The speaker purposefully shames his audience in order

Abraham Lincoln guilt’s his listeners to convince to promote long term unity of the country in a time of great

them to unite the nation ​securing a peaceful and just future for division.​The contrasting phrase of, “Gave their lives that is the

all. The phrase, “Gave their lives that this nation might live.”(7) nation might live…” juxtaposes the death of the soldiers to the

Abraham Lincoln juxtaposes the death of the soldiers to the life life of the nation (7). This quote puts into comparison the dead

of the nation in order to justify their deaths for the nation. and living, by emphasizing that the dead served as union

Lincoln glorifies these troops with this juxtaposition by saying soldiers, giving eventually the chance for the nation in unity to

that the ​nation rests on the soldiers of these troops.​ Thus live through their honorable death. Therefore this “honorable
making the audience feel as though they have not done enough death” of the soldiers creates guilt for those who don't have the

for these troops. This, in turn, makes the audience feel guilty bloody loss ​in the unions ​victorious battlefields​ of the civil war.

and ashamed that they unintentionally caused this war resulting The honorable ​quote appeals to one's emotions ​such as​ stirring

in the death of union troops.​ It effectively persuades them in guilt into a living union soldier and a civilian’s conscience​.

because these troops were just ordinary people like the Also, about what has the audience done for Lincoln arises guilt

audience, making them want to take action and making them in the living for ​not becoming a sacrifice for the sake as a

feel guilty.​ ​This is pervasive because it makes the people want country as the whole but rather living for themselves. ​In other

to fight for what the troops died for.​ The words that make this words, the living hasn't “gave” or suffered for their country by

comparison are “gave their lives” and “live,” which make the shedding their own blood. Therefore, the quote of “giving their

comparison seem elegant with the euphemism. Instead of lives” is euphemistic since the connotation of​ “dying” ​or” passing

saying​ “they died,” Lincoln creates a response that makes the away”​ can be in relation to​ an animal ​whose death does not give

soldiers seem admirable, in turn, invoking an emotional or have meaning for others.​ However, “gave their lives” is more

response​. + ​Also, the phrase, “We take increased devotion . . . meaningful and a more positive connotation in saying that the

these dead shall not have died in vain . . . shall not perish from nation has retrieved something beneficial for the good of the

this earth,” (14-9) is in the form of a periodic sentence which country. From the soldier's death, the union soldiers obtained

praises our troops for the good that they have done.​ He uses respect for the unity of the country for the sake of the

words such as​ “we” to include everyone ​in the ​“devotion” to courageous fallen soldiers. ​Furthermore, Lincoln shames the
keep the country together. ​Due to these troops fighting they audience by declaring that, “...these dead shall not have died in

were able to maintain the Union and with this increased vain…” and finally makes his final main thought to the country

devotion people are more willing to help. This in turn invokes a saying, “...this nation shall have a new birth of freedom---and

sense of pride in the troops, which leads to a feeling of guilt that government of the people by the people....shall not perish

because the audience feels as though they have not supported from earth.” (17-19) ​This meaningful periodic sentence appeals

the troops enough. This makes them want to take action and to the audience to urgently to not abandon the victory that the

continue fighting for unity. This periodic sentence is important in dead have achieved for the welfare of the country. On a second

this moment because it concludes the ​persuasion ​to continue thought, it's proving the guilt of the civilians and soldiers, still

fight for unity. Repetition of we to provoke a sense that we need alive, that they ought to have devotion for the country from the

to do this and if we don’t there will not be unity. + dead, so that they could take an example and fight also using all

of their strengths and resources in regards for a strong nation.

After the speaker has declared something urgent that would

have appealed to the audience's emotions, Lincoln finalizes the

main idea by personifying freedom and thus implying its

importance for the people and the country’s unity.

INSTRUCTIONS​:
1. INDIVIDUALLY​ - Copy and paste essay as described above. (timed)
 2. INDIVIDUALLY​ - Each student should read the other student’s essay. HIGHLIGHT the strong commentary on the other
student’s essay while you read. (timed)

3. GROUP ​- (done the remainder of class) Pull the best parts from each others’ essays together to create your Frankenstein
essay, which will be written in the space ​below​ the chart. ​ Keep each other’s text blue and red and green.​ *Note, you are
taking sentences from each person’s original essay; remember to focus on creating strong commentary that has depth and
serious analysis.

4. GROUP​ - Create flow between two essays and connect the ideas together. Flow and connections should be typed in ​black
ink ​collaboratively until the final essay is cohesive. Note that the final essay should have blue text, red text, green text, and
black text.

Within Abraham Lincoln’s persuasive speech entitled the Gettysburg Address regarding the divide of the nation given to

Union soldiers and civilians during the dedication of the field, he shifts passionately from outlining the stable foundation to exposing

the reality of the current tensions in order to unify the country by ensuring that “all men are created equal.” (2-3) forming a just nation

for all.

In Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, he empowers the citizens and soldiers of the Union forces in order to unite the North and

South to ensure a peaceful future. Lincoln uses epiphoric phrasing to create a “new birth of freedom. . .of. . .by. . .for. . .the

people”(18-9) that establishes an unbreakable tie between the nation and those who live there. He adds this phrasing so that

everyone listening is included. In turn, this invokes passion within the hearts of listeners and the understanding that they need to

fight together as a nation to reunite and become a whole stable country again. His use of prepositional phrases furthers his focus on
including everyone in this cause. The prepositional words (of,by, and for) add to this element because they create a relationship

between the people and their government, and that this government was made specifically for them. Since they are tied to this

government and nation they feel patriotism and pride because it was made of, by, and for them, and they are obligated to keep this

unity. Furthermore, the anaphoric repetition of “the people” not only emphasises the importance of the american people, but

illustrates the big picture of the nation consisted of white or black individuals who are together fighting, for the ultimate goal of unity to

be accomplished. This repetition evokes the emotions of patriotism and defines the the roots of democracy that were the foundation

of this nation. Thus, this repetitive pattern of “people” brings about urgency to the people of the nation to do their part for the country.

Simultaneously, the lack of conjunction “and” evokes urgency since the asyndetonic phrase speeds up the sentence and gives more

attention to the people. The country, or more specifically the Union, feels more obliged to fight for a good cause or more specifically

their own cause or “for the people.” This patriotism is also reflected from freedom being personified as being born in this nation. This

new freedom can refer to as the effect brought from unity of the country. The abstract language or powerful meaning of “freedom”

encourages the fight for unity in which may bring about freedom later on in the future as a result of success in accomplishing unity.

Abraham Lincoln’s ability to empower and unite his audience can be closely related to women activist today, such as the

Silence Breakers. The “Silence Breakers” on the cover of the 2017 Time magazine stood up and spoke out against sexual

harassment in order to be a role model and encourage people to stand up, which can be related to how Lincoln empowers his
audience to continue fighting for what they believed in. The lack of leadership and role models, before the Silence Breakers and

Lincoln, hindered the unity and equality between people in the nation. However, after these leaders were obtain, more and more

soldiers in the Union fought for this cause, and more and more women spoke out against sexual harassment proclaim the truth of

their torment that was once silenced. Both of these issues empower citizens to dispose of the problems at hand.
Abraham Lincoln​ guilt’s his listeners into uniting​ the country in a time of great division.​ ​Lincoln shames the audience by declaring

that, “...these dead shall not have died in vain…” and finally makes his final main thought to the country saying, “...this nation shall

have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people-...shall not perish from earth.” (17-19) ​ ​Also, the phrase, “We take

increased devotion . . . these dead shall not have died in vain . . . shall not perish from this earth,” (14-9) is in the form of a periodic

sentence which praises our troops for the good that they have done.​ His use of a periodic sentence ​This meaningful periodic

sentence appeals to the audience to urgently to not abandon the victory that the dead have achieved for the welfare of the country.

After the speaker has declared something urgent that would have appealed to the audience's emotions,

This periodic sentence is important in this moment because it concludes the ​persuasion ​to continue fight for unity.

Due to these troops fighting they were able to maintain the Union and with this increased devotion people are more willing to help ​it's

proving the guilt of the civilians and soldiers, still alive, that they ought to have devotion for the country from the dead, so that they

could take an example and fight also using all of their strengths and resources in regards for a strong nation.