Reading Guide | “The Gettysburg Address”
Before-Reading Activities
Directions: Before you read Abraham Lincoln’s speech “The Gettysburg Address,” review the
vocabulary and term for this reading and answer the short-answer questions.
Vocabulary Word
fourscore (noun)
Definition
eighty
conceived (verb)
formed or created
proposition (noun)
a statement that expresses a judgment or opinion
consecrate (verb)
make or declare sacred; dedicate formally to a religious or divine purpose
hallow (verb)
honor as holy
detract (verb)
reduce or take away the worth or value of
resolve (verb)
decide firmly on a course of action
vain (adj.)
producing no result; useless
perish (verb)
suffer death, typically in a violent, sudden, or untimely way
prediction
Definition
a logical guess about what will happen next in a
narrative, based on evidence from the text
Example
One prediction that I made at the beginning of The
Fault in Our Stars was that the book would end with
a character’s death. I made this prediction because
the main character has cancer and goes to a support
group for people with cancer. Because she regularly
interacts with people who have terminal illnesses, it
makes sense that someone close to her might die.
1. What do you already know about “The Gettysburg Address”? List any ideas below.
Licoln wrote it
he wrote it too abolish slavery and make evyone equal
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2. To get a better idea of the context of this speech, take some time to independently research the
Battle of Gettysburg. Try finding a short video that talks about the aftermath of Gettysburg, such as
this one. After watching the video, make at least one prediction about the ideas and topics Lincoln’s
speech addresses.
I predict that he is going to be succesful with what he is trying too do with his adresses and win the war that will happen
between the country.
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Reading Guide | “The Gettysburg Address”
During-Reading Activities
Directions: Read “The Gettysburg Address.” As you read, answer these questions. When you are
finished, save your work and complete the rest of the lesson.
1. According to the text, why is Lincoln giving this speech?
to commemorate a new national cemetery at Gettysburg during the American Civil War.
2. Why does Lincoln say that in a larger sense, it is not actually possible to consecrate the battleground?
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.
3. According to Lincoln, what responsibility do the living have?
to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
4. When you read the speech, did you recognize any sentences or phrases? Which ones had you heard
before?
Yea I did recognize this one "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.
5. In his speech, Lincoln said, “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here …”
Ironically, this speech has endured as part of the American identity for over one hundred and fifty years.
Now that you have read it, why do you think this speech is so memorable?
In the address, Lincoln says, “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what
they did here.” When he is saying this, Lincoln is explaining how nobody will remember what people think or say, unless
the American people pull together and do something.
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