The Gettysburg Address Notes

• Author’s Purpose — A writer usually writes for one of more of these purposes: to express thoughts or feelings, to inform or explain, to persuade, or to entertain.

Ask yourself: Why is the writer writing this? What thoughts or feelings are being provoked? Am I being informed of something? Am I being persuaded? Am I being entertained?

Example:Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States. He was born on February 12, 1809 in Kentucky. He was married to Mary Todd and they had four children. One of his famous speeches was the Gettysburg Address.

Inform, Persuade, or Entertain?The boys were happy when they woke up to find that it was windy outside. It would be a perfect day to fly a kite. They grabbed their kites and went to the park. They spent the whole day there having kite contests and races. The best part was that no one broke or lost his kite.

What you learn in school will help you later in life. It will also help you get a job. If you work hard in school and make good grades, you may be able to go to college and have a career.

• Main Idea — The most important idea or impression about a topic that a writer or speaker conveys. It can be the central idea of an entire work or just of a paragraph. It is often expressed in a topic sentence.

Main Idea:Growing up and learning about life

Themes:The importance of…FriendshipLoveChoiceHumility

Literary works can have many themes, which are sometimes inseparable from the main idea. But while there can be many themes, there is one main — or most important — idea of an entire work.

The Battle of Gettysburg• July 1-3, 1863• Bloodiest battle in the civil war; marked a turning point.• General Lee of the confederate army lost 1/3 of his men (28,063 —

3,903 dead, 18,735 injured, and 5,425 missing)• Union losses totaled 23,049 (3,155 dead, 14,529 wounded, 5,365

missing).• Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863 to

dedicate the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg.• At the time it was panned by critics as ‘silly remarks’ by the president. • Now it is considered one of the greatest speeches in our nation’s history.

Find the Rhetoric!• With a partner, take 10 minutes to identify the following rhetorical

devices in The Gettysburg Address (write in your notes). Be prepared to discuss how these devices advance his purpose.

Repetition Parallelism Allusion

Homework• Complete the following activities on p. 31 of your textbook:

• Critical Vocabulary• Multiple-Meaning Words• Each question should address all four words listed (engaged, testing, poor,

and measure)