Gettysburg Address and other speeches: Ideas presented

Ideas are selected based on the purpose and context of the speech, and articulated by techniques which present them most effectively. The contrasting ways in which values and attitudes can be presented are evident in the different perspectives on the value of patriotism presented in Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Emma Goldman’s Address to the Jury. Similarly the attitude to war displayed in Lincoln’s speech is contrasted by the sombre undertones of Paul Keating’s eulogy for The Unknown Soldier. These values and attitudes contrast because of the differing purpose and context of each speech.

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was delivered during the American Civil War, in 1863, at a cemetery, after a multitude of soldiers had perished. He was there to dedicate a new military cemetery, but his real purpose was to reassure the people, inspire the soldiers and proclaim the desired future. The speech has been considered by some as simple war propaganda and it was not very w...