Summary Review of Scholarly Work of Michael Leff`s Dimensions of Temporality in Lincholn`s Second Inaugural - Rhetorical Criticism

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Just how does the melding of the secular with that of the sacred obfuscate time and influence an audience and a country ? This is what Michael Leff sets forth to examine in his article Dimensions of Temporality in Lincoln 's Second Inaugural ' Relying in part on the works of Amy Slagell and Glen E . Thurow , both of whom have meticulously examined Lincoln 's famous address , Leff states that his goal is to extend

and complicate their findings in two respects however , what he goes on to prove does not fit so much with his stated goals as it proves his conclusion that the speech is a verbal act that embodies the limitations of human action [ .and that] Lincoln well understood the limits of any single voice in influencing the course of political history (Leff

Leff 's hypothesis was that temporal disruptions and subsequent connections were created when Lincoln combined elements from the past present , and future with elements of the secular and the sacred , and that these added up to a creative equivocation ' Specifically Michael Leff 's third paragraph declares , first , I will argue that the speech builds to a creative equivocation in the middle of the third paragraph , an equivocation that blends the historical present into a conception of a sacred present ' What must be examined here is two-fold : first what a creative equivocation ' is , and second , what it means in the context of Leff 's analysis of Lincoln 's speech

A creative equivocation ' can be thought of as an eloquent half-truth . Leff claims that

Lincoln employs this tactic when delivering his inaugural address as he speaks of the Civil War

and the matter of slavery however , Lincoln does not actually equivocate on the point of who

was right and who was wrong

In the seventh paragraph of his article , Leff implies that Lincoln 's words are non-partisan when he writes the constraints [regarding the Civil War] are everywhere and apply to everyone (Leff . Here , Leff 's point seems to be that Lincoln has equivocated : both sides share blame and responsibility . Leff follows this up in his eighth paragraph when he examines the area of Lincoln 's address that states , Each [side] looked for an easier triumph , and a result less fundamental and astounding . Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God , and each invokes His aid against the other (Lincoln . This , too , implies Lincoln 's equivocation : Leff 's point is that Lincoln is deftly attempting to turn the North and the South away from residual internal conflict in consideration of their mutual obligation to God - without laying blame

When Leff begins his ninth paragraph with Lincoln begins this section (i .e . the third paragraph of his speech ) mindful of the divisions existing in the current historical situation ' he completely ignores Lincoln 's un-equivocated remarks that come later in the third paragraph of his inaugural address

If we shall suppose...