TOW #4 - "Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever"

Written by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever is a nonfiction text that analyzes the context of Lincoln’s tragic assassination. O’Reilly, who runs his own news program on FOX News (Editors), and Dugard, who has a history of producing historical works (Dugard), co-wrote Killing Lincoln to explain the historical context in which President Lincoln, the executive leader of the Union Army during the Civil War, was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. This text provides a high level of written analysis via the narrative style, which allows the coauthors to emphasize the relevance of specific events to Lincoln’s assassination. During the first portion of the text, the authors use anaphora to elaborate on tensions between General Meade and General-in-Chief Grant of the Union Army: “The problem, in a nutshell, is the unspoken rivalry between infantry and cavalry—between the unglamorous and the swashbuckling” (O’Reilly and Dugard 49). In the repetition, the writers juxtapose two charged antonyms, which not only contributes to the educated audience’s understanding of the tensions within the Union Army, but also heightens the audience's understanding of the immense responsibilities that President Lincoln was faced with. The authors later directly comment on John Wilkes Booth’s disturbing level of control with both a metaphor and a simile, claiming that “Booth is fighting the Civil War on his terms, using his talents, choreographing the action like a great director” (O’Reilly and Dugard 93-94). Booth did not fight for the Confederate Army, but rather independently planned to assassinate the leader of the Union, or as O’Reilly and Dugard stated, “[fought] the Civil War on his terms” (93). O’Reilly and Dugard also use a simile comparing Booth to a “great director” (94) which is carefully selected diction that displays Booth’s frightening level of control while plotting the attack. In the context it was written, the seemingly positive connotation of “great” only represents Booth’s own distorted perception; the authors recognize his twisted, villainous nature. The first portion of the text does offer the important historical context of the Civil War, which was a period of polar disunity. Because the coauthors address this critical factor of the historical context, the tragic event of Lincoln’s assassination is presented with relevant background information for the educated audience, allowing them to become more knowledgeable.

Works Cited

Dugard, Martin. “About.” Martin Dugard, http://www.martindugard.com/about/.

Editors, Biography.com. “Bill O'Reilly Biography.” The Biography.com Website, A&E Networks Television, 2015, http://www.biography.com/people/bill-oreilly-9542547#personal-life.

O'Reilly, Bill, and Martin Dugard. Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever. 1st ed., New York, Henry Holt and Co., 2011.