'Abraham Lincoln: The Gettysburg Address'

Abraham Lincoln's speech

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow - this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. 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 - that from these honoured dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

President Abraham Lincoln - November 19, 1863

The Battle of Gettysburg occurred over three hot summer days, July 1 to July 3, 1863, around the small market town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It began as a skirmish but by its end involved 160,000 Americans and effectively decided the fate of the Union.  On November 19, 1863, President Lincoln went to the battlefield to dedicate it as a National Cemetery. The main orator, Edward Everett of Massachusetts, delivered a two-hour formal address. The president then had his turn. He spoke in his high, penetrating voice, and in a little over two minutes delivered this speech, surprising everyone by its brevity and leaving many quite unimpressed at first. Over time, however, this speech with its ending - government of the People, by the People, for the People - has come to symbolize the definition of democracy itself.

1.  What do you notice about the length of the speech?
It's very short
2.  What do you notice about the organisation?
It starts off with a 1 sentence paragraph and then the paragraphs get longer each time
3.  What do you think is the thesis of the speech?
To commemorate the people who died in the war
4.  Name two techniques (with quotes) which you feel are successfully employed and discuss why you feel they are so effective.
1st person inclusive is used "we cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow - this ground". This is successfully employed because it makes them feel as if they are part of the speech.
Repetition is also used in "of the people, by the people, for the people".
5.  Why do you think that the concluding statement is considered so important and powerful by many Americans to this day?
It says that united as a nation they will not perish.