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The Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln, 1863)

12th grade reading

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The Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln, 1863)

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 battle-field 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 can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not 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.
  1. Question 1

    Read "The Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln, 1863)". "We can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground" repeats 'we can not' at the start of each phrase. What is this device called?

    • A. anaphora
    • B. litotes
    • C. asyndeton
    • D. chiasmus
  2. Question 2

    Read "The Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln, 1863)". "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here." Which device sets 'what we say' against 'what they did'?

    • A. antithesis
    • B. anaphora
    • C. metonymy
    • D. onomatopoeia
  3. Question 3

    Read "The Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln, 1863)". Which word best describes the tone of the speech?

    • A. sardonic
    • B. contemptuous
    • C. detached
    • D. reverent
  4. Question 4

    Read "The Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln, 1863)". Lincoln says the speakers 'can not' dedicate the ground. What claim does this support?

    • A. that the ceremony should be cancelled
    • B. that the soldiers' actions matter more than any words, so the living must continue their work
    • C. that the battlefield should be sold
    • D. that the war was not important
  5. Question 5

    Read "The Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln, 1863)". Which appeal is MOST prominent in 'these honored dead… gave the last full measure of devotion'?

    • A. pathos
    • B. ethos
    • C. logos
    • D. none
  6. Question 6

    Read "The Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln, 1863)". How does the speech move through time across its three paragraphs?

    • A. it stays entirely in the present
    • B. from the nation's past founding, to the present war and ceremony, to the future task
    • C. from the future to the past
    • D. from a personal story to a list of statistics

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Answer key: The Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln, 1863)

  1. 1. A. anaphora

  2. 2. A. antithesis

  3. 3. D. reverent

  4. 4. B. that the soldiers' actions matter more than any words, so the living must continue their work

  5. 5. A. pathos

  6. 6. B. from the nation's past founding, to the present war and ceremony, to the future task