Abraham Lincoln - The Gettysburg Address

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 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.

President Abraham Lincoln - November 19, 1863

1. What do you notice about the length of the speech?

The speech is very short but is very effective the way it is presented. In the last paragraph the first sentence is ''we cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow - this ground. The constant use of the word we and the rhyming of dedicate and consecrate makes the speech more effective and techniques like this have been used throughout the speech. 

2.  What do you notice about the organisations? 

They are short and the start and then it gets bigger when he remind's them of the civil war and how their father made the nation.

3. What do you think is the thesis of the speech?

That the dead have not died in vain. 

4. Name two techniques (with quotes) which you feel are successfully employed and discuss why you feel they are so effective? 

Rhyme is used in the last paragraph, the rhyming of the words dedicate and consecrate. Repetition is also used in the last paragraph, the word we is repeated numerous times. 

5. Why do you think that the concluding statement is considered so important and powerful by many Americans to this day?
As he has said the dead has not died in vain which tells us they died for their country and for what they loved doing - serving their country. It also states that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. This means they will be remembered and never forgotten. These lasts statements send a very powerful message to Americans.