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Identify how EACH type of format (sequential, comparative, and cause and effect) is used to organize some part of the passages from Lincoln’s 1861 Inaugural Address. Then, explain how each form of organization helps you understand the document. Each type of organization must be identified.
Parts of Lincoln’s speech are organized using each of the three formats.
Sequentially, the opening explanation of the history of the union is explained as a series of events. Starting with the “Articles of Association” through the Constitution, Lincoln uses this series of events to help convince us of the sequence of events that created and confirmed the United States as a union.
Lincoln uses a cause-and-effect format to explain the results of secession, which would start with the departure of southern states. Secession, he explains, would have a negative effect on the people and result in anarchy or despotism. These effects would result in the end of democracy.
Finally, Lincoln compares the idea of secession to two examples of separation. He explains that a husband and wife can separate and still continue to communicate, but the United States cannot separate and expect to survive. He also uses the example of aliens and friends to convince the audience that a war would not improve relations between the two sides, or even make it possible to create treaties between North and South.
Thus, Lincoln uses each of the formats to organize his ideas and explain his reasons for avoiding secession and war. Unfortunately, his predictions would indeed be realized once the South seceded, and the Civil War that followed would do little to improve relations between the two sides.