THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS TEACHER RESOURCE GUIDE

Materials

• Gettysburg Address broken down

into sentences (see Procedure)

• Translation Evaluation Worksheet

(in this lesson plan)

• Understanding the Gettysburg Ad-

dress Worksheet (in this lesson

plan)

LESSON 1: UNDERSTANDING THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

Objectives

• Name three important concepts Lincoln laid out in the Gettysburg Address.

• Apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections.

• Define unfamiliar vocabulary using a dictionary or thesaurus.

• Apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency.

• Classify information from primary sources to form generalizations about the Civil War and democracy.

• Hypothesize the primary theme of the Gettysburg Address.

PROCEDURE

1. Divide students into ten groups. Assign each group a sentence from 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 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.

for unity and

equality as put

forth in the

Declaration of

Independence;

he painted the

war in global

and epic pro-

portions; and

he redirected

the war’s pur-

pose as a battle to end slav-

ery.

n July 1863, Union and

Confederate forces met

in battle outside the small

market town of Gettysburg,

Pennsylvania. For three

days, under the hot summer

sun, the bloodiest fight of the

war raged on. In the end,

51,000 men died on the bat-

tlefield. On November 19,

1863, President Lincoln was

invited to make a few re-

marks at the dedication of

the battlefield as a national

cemetery. The main speaker,

Edward Everett, spoke for

two hours before Lincoln

took the stage. His speech

lasted only a few minutes. In

it, he reminded the audience

of the sacrifices made by

America’s forefathers; he

honored the men who had

died on the battle field at

Gettysburg; he challenged

America to continue to fight

INTRODUCTION

Abraham Linc o l n P r e s i den t i al Library a n d M u s e u m

THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

TEACHER RESOURCE GUIDE

WWW.PRESIDENTLINCOLN.ILLINOIS.GOV

GRADE 5-8

Materials

• Gettysburg Address (in this

lesson plan)

• Literary Tools Worksheet (in

this lesson plan)

• Internet access

• Paper, pencils, pens

INTRODUCTION

was common entertainment

during the nineteenth century

and Edward Everett, keynote

speaker at the dedication, was

one of the most famous ora-

tors of the time. Abraham

Lincoln, on the other hand,

was invited only a few weeks

before the ceremony, to de-

liver “a few appropriate re-

marks.” There are many leg-

he Gettysburg Address

has endured as one of

the most important docu-

ments in U.S. history. What

makes this speech so mean-

ingful and why have the words

endured long after Abraham

Lincoln’s delivery?

Attending and listen-

ing to lengthy public speeches

ends regarding how Lincoln

devised his address, but most

modern scholars believe he

researched his subject and

wrote his thoughts, if not a

first draft, before he left

Washington. One misconcep-

tion was that Lincoln wrote

the address on the back of an

envelope as he was traveling

to Gettysburg. But Lincoln

• 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 hon-

ored 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.

2. Working together and using their own words, each group will create a “translation” of what Lincoln

meant. Students will use dictionaries and/or a thesaurus to determine word meanings. Students will

provide the teacher with their finished translation.

3. Have each group read their translation to the class. The class will “grade” each group using the

Translation Evaluation Worksheet.

4. Create a “translation” of the entire Gettysburg Address to pass out to students.

5. After students have had time to review the “translation,” ask them to complete the Understanding the

Gettysburg Address Worksheet.

6. Ask students to hypothesize on the main theme of the Gettysburg Address. Discuss as a class.

Objectives

• Identify at least three key themes of the Gettysburg Address.

• Develop a persuasive speech that can be presented orally or in written format in 267 words or less.

• Identify the various literary devices including grammatical parallelism, antithesis, alliteration, and repetition and

use them appropriately in an oral or written speech.

• Students will analyze the effectiveness of the literary devices employed in the Gettysburg Address.

PROCEDURE (CONTINUED)

LESSON 2: THE LANGUAGE OF THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS

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T HE G E T T Y SB UR G A D DR ESS

Continued page 5

GRADE 8-12

TRANSLATION EVALUATION WORKSHEET

NA ME : __ __ _ ___ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ __ __ __ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ __ _ _ __ __

Translation:

Circle the appropriate answer:

1. The group wrote the sentence on the board and:

I understand what was written on the board. I do not understand what was written on the board

2. The group read the translation and:

It helped me understand it It did not help me understand it

Questions I would like to ask the group or the teacher:

My comments:

Use the form below to evaluate each translation written by your classmates.

1. Read the translation as written on the board.

2. Copy the translation below.

3. Listen to the translation as it is read to you.

4. Record your evaluation below.

Multiple Choice: Circle the letter of the best answer

to rewrite each group of words.

1. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on

this continent a new nation,

a. 27 years ago some people made a new country that brought us

together

b. 87 years ago some people made a new country that brought us

together

c. 27 years ago our relatives made a new country that brought us

together

2. conceived in liberty,

a. based on the idea of freedom

b. born in a free country

c. taken from a free country

3. and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created

equal.

a. and made sure the song was the same as all others

b. and believed that all people are the same

c. and written to make sure that everyone would get the same

things.

4. Now we are engaged in a great civil war,

a. Now we are fighting a war between the states

b. Now we are planning a war

c. No we are politely debating

5. testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and

so dedicated, can long endure.

a. Testing if any country can survive forever

b. Trying to see if we or any country who believes in that idea can

continue to exist

6. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.

a. People are coming to meet us here.

b. We are standing on an important battlefield of that war.

c. People are coming to fight with us here.

7. 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.

a. We have come to say that part of this field is holy because it is a

final resting place for those who died here so that our country can

continue to exist.

b. We have come here to create a place where soldiers can rest

because they fought so hard for our country.

UNDERSTANDING THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS WORKSHEET

NA ME : __ __ _ ___ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ __ __ __ _ _ _ __ __

8. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not con-

secrate -- 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.

a. But in the bigger picture, we cannot make this place holy because

the men who died here already did.

b. But in the bigger picture we cannot build here because people died

here and it would be disrespectful.

c. But in a larger sense, we should not honor people who fight in

wars.

9. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say

here, but it can never forget what they did here.

a. The world doesn’t care about this place but the men who fought

here will always remember.

b. People won’t remember this ceremony but they will remember

the men who fought and died here.

10. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfin-

ished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly

advanced.

a. We need to dedicate this cemetery and make it look nice to honor

these men.

b. We who are still alive need to promise to continue to fight for the

ideas that these men died for.

11. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task re-

maining before us -- that from these honored dead we take in-

creased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full

measure of devotion

a. We have to promise to make this cemetery nice and remember

these men.

b. We need to promise that we will work on the great job ahead of

us--to remember the dead we will increase our effort to save the ideas

that they died for.

12. that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have

died in vain

a. that we promise that the men who died here died for a good rea-

son

b. that we find out if the dead died terrible deaths

c. that we make sure other people don’t die here

13. that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom

a. that our country, under God’s blessing, shall have a new form of

government

b. that our country, under God’s blessing, shall be reborn in freedom

c. that we will become a really religious country

14. and that government of the people, by the people, for the

people, shall not perish from the earth.

a. and that one government of lots of people should spread all over

the earth

b. and that a government of people cannot exist on this earth

c. and that the idea that all the people should be involved in making

their own rules and laws for themselves won’t be destroyed.

actually had had four and one

half months to gather his

thoughts and put pen to paper

after the battle. Lincoln did

not accept many public invita-

tions to speak and he regard-

ed this as a unique opportuni-

ty to explain the revolutionary

transition he envisioned for

the country—the new birth of

freedom and equality under

law.

Lincoln, careful writ-

er and serious thinker, used

this opportunity to redirect

the nation’s attention toward

the war’s long term goals. He

did not use the words

"Gettysburg," "slavery,"

"Confederate, “ South,"

“Battle,” “Cemetery,” or

"Union." Instead of bringing

up divisive issues and narrow-

ly defining his speech, he

spoke in abstract terms. In-

stead of delivering an angry

diatribe against the Confeder-

acy, as Everett had done, Lin-

coln emphasized healing the

country and working toward

the ideals laid out in the Dec-

laration of Independence.

Lincoln’s address

lasted only a few minutes. He

used only 267 words in ten

sentences. Not strictly a po-

em, he nevertheless used

poetic devices to increase the

power of his words. So per-

fect was Lincoln’s speech, that

the great orator Everett, re-

quested a copy of it from

Lincoln saying, “I should be

glad if I could flatter myself

that I came as near to the

central idea of the occasion in

two hours as you did in two

minutes.”

Lincoln employed

many rhetorical devices in his

talent with words, but his

ideas in the Gettysburg

Address to create a per-

suasive speech. The

speech should be mod-

eled on the c o n c i s e

presentation of ideas

found in Lincoln’s speech

which are:

• The enduring quality of

our nation.

1. Using the Literary Tools

Worksheet have stu-

dents identify the unify-

ing structures of Lin-

coln’s speech.

2. Discuss as a class, com-

paring the examples

found.

3. Working individually or

in pairs, use one of the

• The idea that in the U.S.

“All men are created

equal.”

• Bravery and sacrifice will

be remembered forever.

• “That this nation under

God shall have a new

birth of freedom.”

PROCEDURE

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WW W .P RE S ID EN T LI NC OL N .I LL I NO I S. G OV

Literary Tools Worksheet Answer Key (you may find more)

Parallelism Antithesis Alliteration Repetition

Conceived in liberty, dedicated

to the proposition

That nation, that war, that field

So conceived, so dedicated

Can not dedicate, can not con-

secrate, can not hallow

Little note, long remember

What we say here, what they

did here

To the unfinished work, to the

great task, to that cause

That these dead, that this nation

Of the people, by the people for

the people

Living, dead

Little note, long remember

What we say here, what they did

here

Add, Detract

Gave their lives, Nation might

live

Fourscore, founding, fathers,

forth

New nation

Continent, conceived

World will

Note nor

We here highly

Of the people, by the people, for

the people, perish

New nation, that nation, any

nation

So conceived, so dedicated

We are engaged, we are met,

we have come

We cannot dedicate, we cannot

consecrate, we cannot hallow

Of the people, by the people for

the people

mature speeches are especial-

ly characterized by grammati-

cal parallelism, antithesis,

alliteration, and repetition,

and he used all four strategies

in his brief address at Gettys-

burg. Although public reac-

tion to the speech was divid-

ed along partisan lines, even-

tually the Address was recog-

nized for its greatness and

poetry. Today, the Gettys-

burg Address is universally

recognized as one of the

most moving expressions of

the democratic spirit ever

spoken.

• “Government of the

people by the people and

for the people shall not

perish from the earth.”

3. Have each student pre-

sent their speech to the

class, or create a scrap

book of the speeches for

the classroom or to post

online.

Although Abraham Lincoln had less than one year of formal education, he possessed a logical and inquisitive mind ena-

bling him to write one of the most eloquent speeches in our nation’s history. A successful speech is one the audience

remembers, repeats and responds to. Lincoln employed many rhetorical devices in his talent with words, but his ma-

ture speeches are especially characterized by the following literary tools:

Grammatical parallelism Antithesis Alliteration Repetition

Lincoln used all four strategies in his brief address at Gettysburg. Today, the Gettysburg Address is universally recog-

nized as one of the most moving expressions of the democratic spirit ever spoken.

Parallelism

Parallelism is a rhetorical technique in which a writer emphasizes the equal value or weight of two or more ideas by expressing

them in the same grammatical form. Example, “that nation so conceived,” and “any nation so dedicated.”

List all the examples you can find:

Example: that nation any nation this nation

Antithesis

Antithesis is a rhetorical technique in which words, phrases, or ideas are strongly contrasted, often by means of a repetition of

grammatical structure. In literature, the use of antithesis as a figure of speech, results in two statements that show a contrast

through the balancing of two opposite ideas. Example, “the brave men,” and “our poor power.”

List all the examples you can find:

Example: Brave men our poor power

LITERARY TOOLS WORKSHEET

NA ME : __ __ _ ___ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ __ __ __ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ __ _ _ __ __

Alliteration

The repetition of the same sounds or of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables. Alliteration is

fun to say and enjoyable to hear, and used to call attention to certain words. Alliteration is an important sound technique for mak-

ing particular words stand out. It also connects the words to be emphasized. Example, “Fondly do we hope—fervently do we

pray."

List all the examples you can find.

Example: Fondly do we hope fervently do we pray

Repetition

Repetition is a classic technique in presentation and speech making. It helps tie the theme together and it creates clarity for the

listener. Additionally, we remember words and phrases more readily when they are packaged in threes. Example, “We cannot ded-

icate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground."

List all the repetitive examples you can find:

Example: great civil war great battlefield

WW W .P RE S ID EN T LI NC OL N .I LL I NO I S. G OV

ur pluralistic democracy

is based on a set of com-

mon principles such as justice,

equality, and liberty—ideals set

forth in Lincoln’s Gettysburg

Address. Individuals often

interpret these general princi-

ples quite differently given

specific situations. Controver-

sial legal and policy issues, as

they are discussed in the pub-

lic arena, often lead to polari-

LESSON 3: A CIVIL CONVERSATION

ticipants are encouraged to

engage intellectually with chal-

lenging materials, gain insight

about their own point of view

and strive for a shared under-

standing of issues. In addition,

students develop their speak-

ing, listening and analytical

skills. The Civil Conversation

was developed by the Consti-

tutional Rights Foundation.

Visit them at www.crf-usa.org

INTRODUCTION

PA RT I: C O N-

D UC TI N G A CI VI L

CO N VE R SA TI O N

1. Distribute the Civil Conver-

sation Worksheet to each

student and go over the

rules of a Civil Conversa-

tion with your students.

2. The group will sit in a

circle. If the group is too

large, pair the students so

that there is an inner and

outer circle with students

able to move back and

forth into the inner circle

if they have something to

add.

3. Hand out copies of the

Gettysburg Address to

each student. Ask stu-

dents to read the address

and underline the words

or phrases that they feel

are most powerful or

Objectives

• Identify Lincoln as the author of the Gettysburg Address.

• Identify the Gettysburg address as one of the most important speeches given in American history.

• Conduct a “Civil conversation” while discussing historical documents.

• Name at least two important points Lincoln made in the Gettysburg Address.

zation, not understanding. In

this activity, students will en-

gage in a “Civil Conversation”

about the Gettysburg Ad-

dress, a document still debat-

ed by scholars today. This

civil conversation activity of-

fers an alternative to the con-

tentious debate formats we

see today. In this structured

discussion method, under the

guidance of a facilitator, par-

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WW W .P RE S ID EN T LI NC OL N .I LL I NO I S. G OV

Materials

• Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (in

this lesson plan)

• Civil Conversation Worksheet (in

this lesson plan)

PROCEDURE

meaningful.

4. Ask students to respond

in writing to questions 1-

5 on their worksheet.

5. Begin the conversation,

by asking every member

of the group to respond

to questions 2 and 4.

Members should not just

repeat what others say.

6. Then ask the entire

group to respond to

question 5 and jot down

the issues raised.

7. Continue the conversa-

tion by discussing the

questions raised.

8. The conversation will

have a time limit of 15 to

45 minutes with an addi-

tional five minutes to

reflect upon the effec-

tiveness of the conversa-

tions.

9. Debrief the activity by

having the class reflect

on the effectiveness of

the conversation. Begin

by asking students to

return to the worksheet

and answer questions 6

and 7. Then ask:

• What did you learn from

the Civil Conversation?

• What common ground

did you find with other

members of the group?

10. Then ask students who

were not active in the

conversation to com-

ment on the things they

learned or observed.

11. Conclude the debriefing

by asking all participants

to suggest ways in which

the conversation could

be improved. If appro-

priate, have students add

the suggestions to their

list of conversation rules.

PA RT II : GR OU P

RE A DI N G

1. Begin reading the Get-

tysburg Address out

loud to the class.

2. When you come to

words or phrases the

students have underlined

at the beginning of the

lesson, ask them to join

you by reading those

underlined words or

phrases out loud with

you. All students who

underlined those words

should join in.

GRADE 5-12

CIVIL CONVERSATION WORKSHEET

RULES FOR CIVIL CONVERSATIONS

CIVIL CONVERSATION READING GUIDE

NA ME : __ __ _ ___ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ __ __ __ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ __ _ _ __ __

"Bliss Copy,· as it appears in Gary Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America. (1992:

New York. Simon & Schuster). Appendix III. D. 2 .• "Final Text," p. 263.

Address delivered at the dedication of the cemetery at Gettysburg

November

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

1. Who wrote the Gettysburg Address and why?

2. What is the main message of the address?

3. How does Lincoln describe the United States?

4. Why does Lincoln refer to the founding fathers?

5. What does the speech say the soldiers are fighting for?

6. What does Lincoln believe the purpose of war to be?

7. What lesson does Lincoln say we can learn from this battle?

8. What is Lincoln referring to when he says, "of the people, by the people, for the people”?

9. What does Lincoln mean by a “new birth of freedom”? Whose freedom is he talking about?

10. Why is the speech considered one of the most important in American History?

11. Lincoln never mentions Gettysburg in his Address. Why do you think that is?

12. What does Lincoln say may “perish from this earth”? Why does he think this might happen? What will prevent it from happening?

13. Why do you think the speech is so well loved?

14. Are all people created equal? Explain your answer.

15. Do you feel that the proposition “that all men are created equal” has been advanced or not since Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Ad-

dress? If so, what impact did the Address have on these advances?

16. What did people of the time think of Lincoln’s speech?

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS/WRITING PROMPTS

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

1. Compose a song or create a dance about the speech.

2. Create a drawing or painting depicting the scene of the speech.

3. Create a sculpture of Lincoln making the speech.

4. Create a diorama of Lincoln at Gettysburg.

5. Pretend you were at the dedication. Write a letter to a friend, or a diary entry describing your

experience.

6. Write a letter to President Lincoln telling him how you felt about the speech. Write from the

point of view of a soldier, the parent of a fallen soldier, a northerner, a southerner or a child.

7. Memorize the speech and perform it for the class. Use props and costumes. Record or video-

tape yourself giving the speech for a younger audience.

8. Create a Power Point presentation about the speech.

9. Compare the Declaration of Independence to the Gettysburg Address.

10. Visit some of the websites provided in the resource section or read some of the books listed

there.

Page 12

T HE G E T T Y SB UR G A D DR ESS

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

This Teacher Resource Guide was created by the ALPLM Education Division with input from Abraham

Lincoln-Horace Mann Fellows, Diane Lopez, Teresa Simoneaux, Judith Falls, and Russell Diesinger

and the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago.

RESOURCES

Books for Students

Sam Fink, The Gettysburg Address (2008)

Jean Fritz, Just a Few Words Mr. Lincoln

(1993)

Books for Teachers

Gabor Boritt, The Gettysburg Gospel (2006)

Garry Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg (1992)

Online Resources

Library of Congress: The Gettysburg

Address www.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd/

American Battlefield Trust: The Civil War

in Four Minutes: The Gettysburg Address

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/videos/g

ettysburg-address

Gettysburg National Park

www.nps.gov/gett

The Edward Everett copy of the Gettysburg Address is located in the collections of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.