Jane Nicole B.

Balea
BS Social Work 2-C
SW 109 Technical Writing

Instructions: Read the Gettysburg Address of Abraham Lincoln November 19, 1863. Reflect,
comprehend, and cull out key messages from the said speech. You may dissect the speech and create the
message per paragraph or sentence.  Write down the messages in a sheet of paper with a minimum of five
(5) key messages to maximum of ten (10). If you will be dividing the speech for the messages, kindly
include the excerpt you are referring to. 
The Gettysburg Address (Abraham Lincoln  November 19, 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 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. 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.

The excerpt: “But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate3 —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. 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 vain4 —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.”
Message: Abraham Lincoln is talking about the Union soldiers who died during the war while fighting
for a united America. He is implying that the soldiers who died here will never be forgotten and that the
events that transpired will always be remembered. Lincoln is acknowledging the soldiers who sacrificed
their power and life to fight for their country. He claims that his words on the day of his speech will have
little influence on the world and the people, but he emphasizes that the heroic actions of the soldiers who
sacrificed their lives for America will leave a lasting impression that will last for several more decades.
Undoubtedly, the influence left by these soldiers’ lives on in America today, which is very different from
the America which might have existed if those soldiers, and many others like them, had not battled so
valiantly. Even though the ceremony was dedicated to those who died on one battlefield and their
victories, Lincoln reminds the audience that the Civil War was still going on and there was more work to
be done. Also, Lincoln is referring to the valiant dead who fought for the cause, and how those left behind
must ensure that their sacrifice is not in vain by continuing to fight even harder again for the cause.