“Gettysburg Address” Close Reading Exercise - Please answer on a separate sheet of
paper in complete sentences. This assignment is worth 50 pts. and will serve as a
project grade.
1. What happened "four score and seven years ago"? Why does Lincoln start with
this? Declaration of Independence. To let him know that what they are fighting for is not
something that he made up. It was a founding proposition, and it is the philosophical basis
for our country.
2. In the first sentence, what does Lincoln tell us about this new nation?
It was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
3. What is being tested by this war? The endurance of our country and everything that it
represents.
4. What impact does starting the second paragraph with "now" have on its meaning?
It is a switch in tense that grabs the audience’s attention. It is direct, and it serves a signal
indicating a shift in both meaning and time.
5. When Lincoln says the nation was "so conceived and so dedicated" what is he
referring to? The founding of the country, the DOI, and the promises embedded in this
document.
6. What is the point including the phrase "or any nation so conceived and so
dedicated" - what would the sentence mean without it? It definitely broadens his
message to similar situations.
7. What if Lincoln had used the verb "start" instead of "conceive?" It would have a
negative effect on his “birth” metaphor. People feel more attached to something that they
are both a part of, and that to a certain extent belongs to them. Remember, we are in a
democracy, so the country is literally our, obviously to be shared.
8. What are the people who are assembled at Gettysburg there to do? To make a
dedication to those who have died.
9. What did those who fought at Gettysburg do that those who have gathered cannot?
Dedicate, consecrate, and hallow the ground.
10. What is the impact of starting the third paragraph with "but"? It signals a shift,
letting us know that there is more to be done than simply commemorating the dead. It
implies additional information.
11. What does Lincoln describe as the impact of those who fought at Gettysburg?
They have consecrated Gettysburg in a way that the living cannot.
12. What does Lincoln mean by "the great task remaining"? Finishing what they have
started. Fighting to ensure that the country stays trued to its founding proposition.
13.What is the unfinished work that those listening to the speech are asked to
achieve? To take increased devotion to the cause in which the soldiers died for (the cause
of preserving the union, but also fulfilling the philosophical legacy of the founding fathers).
14. How does Lincoln use the idea of "unfinished work" to assign responsibility to his
listeners? He lets them know that it is the listeners job to finish the work through devotion
(devotion can have many meanings in the context of this speech).
15.What specific ideas does Lincoln ask his listeners to commit themselves to at the
end of his speech? That the soldiers had not died in vain, to help in the new birth of
freedom, and that a government for and by all people shall not perish from the Earth.
16. "Increased devotion to that cause". What cause is this? And that a government for
and by all people shall not perish from the Earth. This implies that slaves have rights as
well.
17. How does the meaning of the word "dedicate" change over the course of the text?
Dedicating the land to the dead, but then dedicating ourselves to carry the “torch” and finish
the unfinished work.
18. What does this change in the word “dedicate” reveal about the Gettysburg
address? It is a commemoration of the dead, but it is also a call to action for all present to
dedicate themselves to the cause.
*19. Lincoln begins the “Gettysburg Address” with the assertion that the American
founding fathers forged the new American nation “conceived in liberty and dedicated
to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Given that slavery was legal in six
of the thirteen states in 1776 when Thomas Jefferson penned the “all men are created
equal” assertion in the Declaration of Independence, and given that women and men
without property, not to mention slaves, could not vote, is Lincoln correct in his
assertions that the nation was “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition
that all men are created equal?” Why or why not? No, but do the emotional gravity of
the situation and the general level of pathos, I doubt his logic, especially historical logic was
being scrutinized. Especially in regards to who his general audience was.
*20. Please explain how and why this is considered one of the greatest speeches in
American history. In doing this, please make an assertion, then give a supporting
example from the text. Then analyze and explain how your example proves your
assertion.
* Questions 19 and 20 need to be fully developed paragraphs (5-7 sentences).