A Brief Stylistic Analysis of “The Gettysburg Address”.doc

吉首大学张家界学院文体与修辞课程论文A Brief Stylistic Analysis of “The Gettysburg Address”Delivered by Abraham Lincoln 姓名 覃思杨 班级 10级英语一班 学号 2010011088 Contents摘要 iAbstract ii1. Introduction 12. A Stylistic Analysis of the Speech 2 2.1 At Phonological Level 2 2.1.1 Repetition 2 2.1.2 Pause 2 2.1.3 Rhyme 3 2.2 At Lexical Level 3 2.2.1 Diction 3 2.2.2 First Person Pronouns 4 2.3 At Syntactical/Grammatical Level 4 2.3.1 The Sentence Structure 4 2.3.2 The Sentence Type 5 2.4 At Semantic Level 5 2.4.1 Parallelism 5 2.4.2 MetaphorPersonification 5 2.4.3 Repetition 6 3. Conclusion 6 Appendix 7 摘要 公众演讲在社会活动中扮演着十分重要的角色。它在表现正式书面语的特点时也展现出口语的特征。这篇论文的主要目的是探索由亚伯拉罕林肯总统在宾夕法尼亚州葛底斯堡国家公墓发表的葛底斯堡演说的文体特征。它分别从语音特征、词汇特征、句法特征和语义特征四个方面分析。通过这篇论文，我们能更好的了解公众演讲。关键词：亚伯拉罕林肯，葛底斯堡演说，文体分析Abstract Public speech plays a very important role in social activities. It presents the features of formal written language while exhibiting characteristics of the spoken. The primary goal of this thesis is exploring stylistic features of The Gettysburg Address which was delivered by President Abraham Lincoln at the Soldiers National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It analysis the speech in four aspects: phonological level, lexical level, syntactical level and semantic level. Through the essay, we can have a better understanding of the public speech.Key words: Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, stylistic analysis1. IntroductionStylistics is a branch of linguistics which studies style in a scientific and systematic way concerning the manners/ linguistic features of different varieties of language at different levels. Stylistic analysis is generally concerned with the uniqueness of a text; that is, what it is that is peculiar to the uses of language in a literary text for delivering the message. This naturally involves comparisons of the language of the text with that used in conventional types of discourse. Thus, we may conclude that stylistic analysis is an activity that is highly comparative in nature.Public speech are speeches delivered in public for a special purpose, such as open-class lectures or seminars in a university, religious preaches in the church, speeches delivered at a meeting or conference, the inaugural address of the president elect, etc. Public speech are delivered orally, but they are often well prepared in writing and delivered on formal occasions. So they are strongly influenced by the characteristics of the written languages. Generally speaking, the language used in public speeches is formal in style, clear and vivid in tone, and persuasive in purpose.The Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, one of the best-known in American history. It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, four and a half months after the Union armies defeated those of the Confederacy at the Battle of Gettysburg. Abraham Lincolns carefully crafted address, secondary to other presentations that day, came to be regarded as one of the greatest speeches in American history. In just over two minutes, Lincoln reiterated the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and proclaimed the Civil War as a struggle for the preservation of the Union sundered by the secession crisis, with a new birth of freedom, that would bring true equality to all of its citizens. Reviewing the whole speech in such context, we find out many stylistic features that are rare in other general speeches. Therefore, it deserves our exploration to exhibit what the stylistic characteristics of eulogistic speech are. The examination will be carried out in four perspectives, namely, phonological, lexical, syntactical and semantic analyses.2. A Stylistic Analysis of the Speech2.1 At Phonological LevelPhonological devices play a very important role in public speeches, since they are delivered orally. Therefore, we cant ignore the phonological features of this speech. Here, the main focus puts on repetition, pause and rhyme. 2.1.1 RepetitionIn this speech, the most remarkable figure of speech is repetition, and it concludes alliteration, consonance and epanalepsis. Alliteration is repetition of an initial sound in two or more words that occur close together. For example, a. “Four score and seven years ago” replaces eighty-seven years ago. “four score” has two long vowels :, so the repetition is resounding, overwhelming and well known by people, and can draw audiences attention effectively. b. “We are met.We have come to .” c. “It is for us the living .It is rather for us.” The author used that to stress the purpose they were gathering on the ground, and to put a new light on the great task they were confronted with. Consonance is partial or total identity of consonants in successive words or syllables whose main vowels differ. E.g.:a. “. what we say here, but. what they did here.” b. “. Government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Epanalepsis is the repetition of a word after other words. It helps to organize the discourse, making the whole speech an inseparable entirely. Take the repetition of the word “nation” for example, Lincoln emphasized that the honored dead had fought for the equality of the whole nation rather than for any states, and that he wanted the Union to cover the whole nation rather than only the northern states.2.1.2 PausePause is necessary in public speech. Whats more, the audiences were come from different class and motley community or group including statesman, military officer, journalist and the family of martyr and other grassroots, among these people are either lowbrow or highbrow. So Lincoln had to make sure everyone at presence totally understand the content of his speech. Besides, he makes use of “pause” skillfully, for instance, the “pause” after “now” leads to a thought of current missions and conditions; the “pause” after God make people image what will happen the next moment. 2.1.3 RhythmThe total address is 264 words. The speaker spent about 3 minutes to finish it. And the average speed od public speech is usually within the range of 120 words and 150 words per minute. So, we can figure out that the speed of Lincoln is medium. Its benefit to everyone at present to understand clearly and totally. And its good for the speaker to reach his goal.2.2 At Lexical LevelLexis is used here to refer to the choice of words. In other words, Lexis is proper words in proper places. And here, we will focus our attention on diction and first personal pronouns.2.2.1 Diction One of the most conspicuous features of public speeches at this level is the employment of big words (words with more than 6 letters). In Lincolns Gettysburg Address, the whole text has 264 words while the number of big words is 38, which make up 14% of the total. By the way, the proportion of big word in daily language or advertisements is often less than 20%. It not only to show stability but also would make the audience feel the speaker is serious in politics. For example, at the beginning of the speech, he use “fourscore and seven years ago” instead of “eighty-seven years ago”, and “the proposition” instead of “the belief”, which have a literary flavor and tone, creating a solemn atmosphere for the whole delivery. The other conspicuous feature in this speech is the use of foreign words. In the short passage of 264 words, there are Romance Words and words of French origin, such as “proposition”, “engaged”; and words of Latin origin, such as “conceive” and “resolve”. The use of Romance words created an ambiance of solemnity and dignity, which facilitated the speaker to convey his ideas smoothly. However, most of these romance words such as “nation”, “brave”, “poor”, “power” are not difficult to understand. Because it was a once-delivered speech. The choice of simple words enabled the large audience of all walks of life to understand the essence of it, and to reduce their memory burden. Besides, he used many short words, which made the address rather forceful and rhythmical.2.2.2 First Person Pronouns As far as pronouns are concerned, the frequently used pronouns are the first person pronouns and the second person pronouns, the third person pronouns are used much less. Because the first person would help speaker to state his viewpoint and strike a chord with his listeners. The first person pronouns “we”, “us”, “our” are used for 14 times. These words cause the audience resonance, make them feel that they are on equal terms with the president. Thus it is easier for the speaker to win the support of the listeners, who immediately feel close to the speaker when hearing the expression “we” or “our”. Lincoln involves all the audience and makes them feel that they are the ones whom he is speaking to. By the conversion of personal pronouns, he manages to make the speech flexible and rousing.2.3 At Syntactical/Grammatical LevelSyntax refers to the rules of ordering words into sentences. As far as sentence type is concerned, in most public speeches, we can find that almost all the sentences are major sentences. In this paper, we mostly focus on the sentence structure and the sentence type.2.3.1 The Sentence StructureAs far as sentence length is concerned, most speakers in public speeches tend to use long sentences, since long sentences can convey complicated ideas and make the speech more serious and reliable. This address was delivered on a solemn and serious occasion, so the composition of the long sentences was rather fitting and proper for the atmosphere. Especially the last sentence, which is extraordinarily long with 78 words, expresses Lincolns series of resolute determination. The length forced the audience to pay more attention and to concentrate their effort on digesting the meaning that the speaker intended to convey; meanwhile it made the idea most convincing.2.3.2 The Sentence TypeThe sentences of this speech are most are complete declarative sentences without a few questions. Because the aim of speech is to deliver the massage of “the lament to the sacrificed soldiers”, he utilizes affirmative tone to emphasize his and American peoples feelings. The application of command also helps to enhance the interaction of the addresser and the addresses.2.4 At Semantic LevelPublic speech is usually well prepared in written form in advance in order to achieve a good result. This makes it possible for the speaker to employ figurative language, which can effectively engage the audience. The semantic effect is mainly achieved by the employment of different kinds of figures of speech. Here, we will concentrate on parallelism, metaphor, personification and repetition.2.4.1 ParallelismParallelism is very often used in public speech. Because the use of it reinforces the meaning and helps to build up an emotional climax and therefore very effective. In this speech, there are two parallelism: a. “We can not dedicate-we can not consecrate-and we can not hallow-this ground.” b. “The government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Those sentences create a strong rhythm to help the audience line up his ideas.2.4.2 Metaphor PersonificationMetaphor refers to the use of words to indicate something different from their literal meaning. And personification is a figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstractions are represented with human qualities or form. But sometimes, these two figures will be used in the same sentence. For example, “our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation， conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Lincoln used this metaphor to express the establishment of a country. It means that this country has life just like people, and it is a young baby who is growing and learning and need of help.2.4.3 RepetitionWe can see repetition in this speech everywhere. For example, “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us.” There are two functions in this way. Firstly, the speaker emphasis “here”, it also is the land under everyones feet. Secondly, he emphasis revolution has not yet been successful, its needed for us to do the things which have not being done. This repetition helps to achieve the function of coherence in discourse and the function of reinforcement in mood and emotion, expressing the speakers strong emotion of longing for freedom and justice.3.ConclusionFrom analyzed The Gettysburg Address in ways of linguistic description in terms of the phonological features, the lexical features, the syntactic/grammatical features and the semantic features, a deeper understanding of this public speech is achieved. And we can see that Lincolns Gettysburg Address is concise and plain in language, effective in instigation and persuasion, strong in rhythm, tight in organization and coherent in idea, which effectively influenced the economies of the audience and mentally prepared them for the military mission. AppendixThe Gettysburg AddressGettysburg, Pennsylvan