Lincoln used repetition, parallelism, and ethos in the Gettysburg Address to unite and inspire the nation.

1. Gettysburg Address Bellwork
• Grab a textbook from the cart.
• In your notebook, write and answer the following questions. Use
complete sentences and cite evidence from the text to support your
answers (10 min).
1. What was the main — central or most important — idea in the
Gettysburg Address?
2. Identify Lincoln’s purpose in writing the Gettysburg Address.

2. Informative Essay Notes

3. 5 Steps to Writing a Perfect Essay
1. Pre-Writing
• Brainstorming, Clustering/Idea Mapping, Freewriting
2. Organizing and Planning
• Choosing an organizational strategy and mapping out points
3. Drafting
• First stage of writing — pencil/pen to paper
4. Revising and Editing
• Reread, share, revise
5. The Final Copy

4. Organizational Strategies
• Main Idea and Details
• Introducing an important idea and
details, such as facts, statistics, or
examples.
• A lack of sleep can lead to many
problems. Over time, it can
weaken the immune system. It
also causes moodiness. Perhaps
most dangerous of all, sleep loss
leads to serious accidents.

5. 1
2
3
4
5
Introduction
Body
Conclusion

6. Introduction
• Hook/Grabber — Begin your essay in a creative way that grabs the reader’s
attention.
• A quote — “As a rule, men worry more about what they can’t see than about what
they can.” Julius Caesar said this…
• Fact — Cigarette smoke has been called ‘a lethal cocktail’ of paint stripper, toilet
bowl cleaner, lighter fluid, mothball chemicals, death chamber poison and rocket
fuel.
• Open-ended question — Most teens have money to spend thanks to an allowance
or after-school job, but do they have the money management skills to go along with
that income?
• Anecdote — As I walked out the street entrance to my newly rented apartment, a
guy in maroon high tops and a skateboard haircut approached making kissing noises
and saying, “Hi gorgeous”. Three weeks earlier, I would have assessed the degree of
malice and made ready to run or tell him to bug off depending. But now, instead, I
smiled and so did my four-year–old daughter because after dozens of similar
encounters I understood he didn’t mean me but her. This was not the United States.

7. Thesis Statement
• A single sentence at the end of your intro paragraph
• Tells your opinion on the topic (what you’re discussing or trying to
prove) — what’s your point?
• Directs reader to your main pieces of evidence

8. Thesis Machine
• Step 1: Topic _________________________________________
• Step 2: Issue _________________________________________
• Step 3: Position + Rationale
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

9. First Paragraph Structure
Hook: ____________________________________________________
Sentences connecting hook to thesis statement:
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Thesis Statement: Lincoln used _____________, _____________, and
________________ in the Gettysburg Address to
________________________________________________________.

10. Body Paragraphs
• Contain supporting details/subtopics of essay.
• Include facts, definitions, concrete details, and examples to explain
the topic. Body paragraphs elaborate on your subtopics in order to
support your thesis statement.
• To be effective, your elaboration must be well-chosen, relevant
(related to your topic), significant, and sufficient (enough to make
your point).
• Use RACER format.

11. RACER Format

12. Conclusion
• A good conclusion:
• Follows from and supports the information or explanation presented
in the introduction.
• Explains why the information is important or what effects might
follow.
• Zinger — thought that makes the writer remember your essay; it
should remind the reader of the most important thing you want
her/him to remember. Surprises, evokes an emotional response, or
provokes the reader to think.

13. Transitions
• Transitions are words or phrases that help connect ideas in a piece of
writing.
First, I think that she is studying hard.
Second, I believe that she is a bright student.
Finally, I know that she has great potential.
In conclusion, I feel that she deserves to win the scholarship.
In summary, we should offer her some financial help.

14. Brainstorm List of Transitions

15. 1
2
3
4
5
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
• Hook
• Thesis Statement
• Idea #1 ______________________________
• Idea #2 ______________________________
• Idea #3 ______________________________
Transition
Transition
Transition
Transition
• Restatement of thesis
• Zinger

16. Gettysburg Address Essay
Write an informative essay in which you explain:
• Lincoln’s purpose in the Gettysburg Address
• How he supported his purpose using rhetorical devices (choose 3 of the
following 6)
• allusion
• repetition
• parallelism
• ethos
• pathos
• logos