Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is one of the most important speeches in American history. In it, Lincoln used the dedication of a Union cemetery as an occasion to tie the soldiers’ sacrifice to America’s founding principles. Lincoln spoke for just over two minutes. In just 272 words Lincoln explicitly linked human equality and democracy to the Union war effort. Listen to hear more about the original context of the speech, and hear about Lincoln’s thought process in writing the speech.

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Story Length: 4:50

Listen to the Story:

Listening Comprehension Questions

In what ways did Andrew Carnegie’s libraries serve their communities?
How did Carnegie benefit from a library when he was growing up?
Which personality traits helped propel Carnegie from poverty to riches? Bring specific details from the story to support your ideas.
According to Carnegie, what should rich people do with their money and why? Why was Carnegie known as both generous and “brutal”?

Discussion Themes

In your opinion, what should really rich people do with their fortunes?
What does it take for a person to rise from “rags to riches”?

Socrative users can import these questions using the following code: SOC-1234

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