The Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address [1863]
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
Fourscore 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 honored 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.
Questions for Discussion
1. The first sentence of the "Gettysburg Address" serves which of the following purposes?
A) it makes an assertion that will be qualified later
B) it forges a link with past events and ideals*
C) it presents support for a claim to be stated later
D) it indicates that the speech will be a brief one
E it makes reference to a previous speech
2. In the second paragraph Lincoln appeals to which of the following?
I. ethos
II. pathos
III. logos
A) I only
B) I and II only
C) II and III only
D) III only
E) I, II, and III*
3. The phrase “we cannot hallow” serves which of the following purposes?
A) it extends the meaning of “dedicate” to a more spiritual dimension*
B) it reverses the strict meaning first given through “dedicate”
C) it limits the broad implications suggested by the word “consecrate”
D) it anticipates and undermines objections to the meaning of “consecrate”
E) it defuses the religious connotation associated with “consecrate”
4. the word “consecrate” means
A) absolve
B) adore
C) make sacred*
D) begin praising
E) enjoy properly
5. What does “little note nor long remember” mean?
A) The audience is not taking notes.
B) The TV crews are getting in the way.
C) Lincoln has a bad memory.
D) The soldiers are not there to hear the speech.
E) People around the world will not remember the speech.*
6. What will a portion of the battlefield be used for?
A) burial ground*
B) athletic field
C) cow pasture
D) shopping area
E) farming
7. Who has “hallow[ed] this ground”?
A) President Lincoln
B) the U.S. government
C) the Confederate government
D) the Union government
E) those who fought there*
8. What does “four score and seven” probably refer to?
A) soldiers
B) consecration
C) time*
D) the war
E) speeches
9. The diction of the piece supports imagery relating to which of the following?
I. spirituality
II. new beginnings
III. duty
A) I only
B) II and III only
C) I and II only
D) I and III only
E) I, II, and III*
10. Which of the following is included in the speech?
A) a declarative sentence*
B) a sentence fragment
C) an imperative sentence
D) a periodic sentence
E) an interrogative sentence
11. The address develops contrasts between each of the following EXCEPT . . . ?
A) black and white*
B) words and deeds
C) life and death
D) past and present
E) conflict and rest
12. Lincoln employs each of the following rhetorical devices EXCEPT . . . ?
A) alliteration
B) anaphora
C) antithesis
D) asyndeton
E) apostrophe*
13. In the address the speaker appeals to each of the following EXCEPT . . . ?
A) equality
B) sacrifice
C) ambition*
D) security
E) gratitude
14. The tone of the address is one of . . . ?
A) pedantic solemnity
B) querulous seriousness
C) melancholy resignation
D) hopeful reverence*
E) sanguine reflection