Question 1: What do you think is the overall theme of the poem? What is the speaker trying to convey to the reader?
Use at least two examples or quotes from the text to back up your answer. Be sure to use proper grammar and spelling.
Question 2: Imagine that you were a reporter in the audience at the Gettysburg Cemetery. Compose a newspaper article that details your reactions to the speech and the emotions it awoke in the audience.
Be sure to include the following in your answer:
- a brief synopsis of the speech
- at least two reactions to his imagery
- an interpretation of its effectiveness
Question 3: After reading the speech, what do you think is the overall mood or tone of the speech? Is there a sense of hopefulness or a sense of tragedy by the end of the Gettysburg Address? Why do you feel this way? Use at least one quote from the speech to support your answer.
Be sure to include the following in your answer:
- the tone of Lincoln's speech
- an identification and interpretation of the speech's sense of tragedy or hope
- at least one quotation
Question 4: If you were a veteran of the Civil War, do you think that you could forgive the soldiers of the other side? What might be some of the problems that would make it difficult for you? Do you think it would have been harder for one side to forgive than the other? Why or why not.