Question

Read this excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address and then answer the question that follows:

(1) Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon 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.

(2) We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that this 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.

Pay close attention to the word choice in this speech. What can you tell about the speaker’s point of view?

A. He is angry about the events of the war.
B. He wants others to join the fight later.
C. He plans to take things further soon.
D. He wants to show respect to the soldiers.

Answer 1

D he wants to show respect for the soldiers who died in the war

Answer 2

D. He wants to show respect to the soldiers.

In his speech he talks about dedicating "a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who her gave their lives". The people who gave their lives are the soldiers. He continues by talking about how the soldiers have paid the ultimate sacrifice and their actions have consecrated the ground. This dedication will help the world to remember and honor the soldiers who lost their lives.

The passage does not have any indication of anger. It also doesn't suggest that he wants more people to join the fight or that he will take things further. This is simply about the soldiers who are buried in the battlegrounds.