USA HISTORY

What is Lincoln using when he says “But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate ____ we cannot consecrate ____ we cannot hallow this ground”

(A) Allusion

(B) ** Anaphora

(C) Parallel structure

(D) Metaphor

Concept note-1: -In Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, he uses anaphora when he says, “But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.” His repetition of the words “we cannot, ” help emphasize and drive home his argument.

Concept note-2: -According to Lincoln, why are they unable to “dedicate, ” “consecrate, ” or “hallow” the battlefield? Because they can’t honor it as much as the soldiers declared it sacred. The ground already was dedicated and hallow by those who took part in the battle especially those who died.

Concept note-3: -“The Gettysburg Address” by Abraham Lincoln is remarkable through the use of rhetorical devices like allusion, antithesis, and tricolon.

Concept note-4: -Throughout the Gettysburg address, Lincoln uses the literary device of anaphora-the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of a series of statements. In this passage, Lincoln repeats “we can not” in order to drive home his point that Gettysburg has already been consecrated, by the dead rather than the living.