'Abraham Lincoln: 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 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.

President Abraham Lincoln - November 19, 1863

What do you notice about the length of the speech?
It is very short and quick.
What do you notice about the organisations?
The paragraphs start from a small introduction into a very large conclusion.
What do you think is the thesis of the speech?
I think the thesis of the speech is to tell the audience that they must continue what the civil started.
Name two techniques (with quotes) which you feel are successfully employed and discuss why you feel they are so effective.
One technique which is successfully employed is the use of repetition. "We cannot dedicate - we cannot consecrate - we cannot hallow - this ground" this is employed successfully because it keeps on bringing forth that message of not forgetting about how the civil war changed America.
Another technique that is used is emotive language such as "shall not have died in vain" and "shall not perish from the earth".
Why do you think that the concluding statement is considered so important and powerful by many Americans to this day?
I think the concluding statement is so important and powerful to Americans today because the government is chosen by the people for the people and this has been the same since 1863 when Lincoln made his speech.