Abraham Lincoln – from "Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865" and "The Gettysburg Address"

Abraham Lincoln was a great orator, and he was great at inspiring many people. His speeches helped him be elected President, and he continues to be an inspiration to many people today because of the great things that he did while he was President and the speeches that he made that were so encouraging and inspirational. These two speeches are both from the Realism period, but they do not fit in the Naturalism or Regionalism periods (Wilhelm). That is seen because of the fact that while his speeches are realistic and in the moment, they do not portray humans as just another animal species that they can study as Naturalists did, and they are not about just characteristics of a certain region that is trying to get attention, like Regionalists (Wilhelm). His speeches, while they did involve God and some of the things that were written in the Bible, the speeches were mostly about what was happening in the moment (Wilhelm). He talked about trying to end the war as fast as they could, but he also talked about how it was God's will and how they would not be able to do anything against God's will (Wilhelm). In his Gettysburg Address, he was consecrating the battlefield that all the soldiers had fought and died on, and he was very inspirational, because he talked about that they could really do nothing more to the ground than the soldiers that had been there had already done (Wilhelm). He realized that the greatest sacrifice was death, and there was really nothing that the living could do to add to that great sacrifice (Wilhelm). They could only realize the gifts that they had been given and try to give others those same gifts (Wilhelm). He was very in the moment, because he did not dwell on the past and the tragedy that had happened, he concentrated on what they were doing for that battleground in the moment. These works reflect the time period, because they are all about the Civil War, which was going on during his entire Presidency (Wilhelm). The speeches are about ending it and remembering all of the people that gave their lives for the living (Wilhelm). These speeches do have religion in them, because Lincoln talked about God and how it was God's will that they are fair to everyone and need to end the slavery (Wilhelm). This speech does not really talk that much about government, but since Lincoln was President, these speeches are all about the government and what they are doing (Wilhelm). These speeches do not talk about nature, except for consecrating the ground that the Battle of Gettysburg had been fought on (Wilhelm). While the speeches did not have to do with human nature or psychology, these speeches definitely have to do with psychology, because Lincoln was so inspirational, he probably could get people to do whatever he wanted them to do after his speeches (Wilhelm). This talks a little about the American Dream of African Americans in being freed (Wilhelm). There was not figurative language, and there is also no mention of the Hero (Wilhelm). Lincoln was an incredible speaker, and he is still very inspirational.

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., Douglas Fisher, Beverly Ann. Chin, and Jacqueline Jones. Royster. Glencoe Literature. New York, NY: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.