Gettysburg Address

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(CNN) -- The Gettysburg Address was a quick-hitting speech that was built to last.

Length: A little over two minutes.

Message: Stay the course of a difficult war. If Democracy won't work here, it won't work anywhere.

Short enough to comfortably fit into a social media status box, and shared in its entirety hundreds of times every day, according to recent data from Facebook. Memorable phrases are quoted even more often.

It has been 150 years since President Abraham Lincoln got up in front of thousands of people in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to dedicate the Soldiers' National Cemetery at a turning point in the Civil War.

His words are some of the most memorable in American history, forever stamping our collective minds with "four score and seven years ago," and "all men are created equal," and of course a "government of the people, by the people, for the people." Some of this wasn't really his coinage, but we'll get into that later.

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Politicians portrayed themselves differently in Lincoln's day, seeking to give a more powerful kind of impression, said Dennis Baron, a professor of English and linguistics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

These charts show the number of times phrases from the Gettysburg Address were mentioned on Facebook over one week beginning November 6, and the top five states for each. Northern and transplant states appeared to rank higher.

"If you did that today, people would think of you as somehow flowery and old-fashioned and ... why are you doing that?"

The modern trend is for leaders to "play the folksy card," Baron said, portraying themselves as ordinary Joes and Janes who are exactly like you in every way -- except for the fact that they are hoping to achieve a position of immense power.

Baron said the last president with an "oratorial" style -- on the whole -- was probably John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated 100 years and three days after the delivery of the Gettysburg Address. We still remember Kennedy's delivery of lines like, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

Lincoln was able to get straight to the point and deliver a punchy speech in part because he came after Edward Everett's marathon presentation about the war, explains James Cornelius, curator of the Lincoln Collection in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

Lincoln had no speechwriter. Today, most politicians have at least some help preparing their words.

Everett had been the main attraction, but Lincoln's speech started picking up steam afterward and seemed to "go viral" in the manner of its day. Newspapers wrote about the speech. In some cities, people could buy commemorative event pamphlets that contained the speech, and key phrases were incorporated into Lincoln's 1864 election posters and memorials after his death.

Newspaper retracts editorial panning Gettysburg Address

Sound familiar? Cornelius said overall, Civil War-era America was a consumer-driven society that had a few things in common with our Internet-saturated world.

One can only imagine the tweets that would have been written about such a speech in modern times.

'Lincoln' delivers Gettysburg Address

"OMG. Lincoln just said in two minutes what Everett tried to say in two hours. #NailedIt #Boom"

Today, children learn the address in school, especially in Northern cities, and documentary guru Ken Burns is asking people to record themselves saying the speech from memory.

Ken Burns: Learn the Gettysburg Address by heart

People also share the quotations on social media. Certain phrases seem to stick out, and Facebook numbers show which ones we like to share. We found that people in some states, like Delaware, were particularly fond of quoting the address and that different parts of the speech were more popular in some states than others.

Here is a nonexhaustive rundown of some of the most popular phrases in the speech, in order of appearance.

'Four score and seven years ago'

Pretty much everyone knows this part of the Gettysburg Address, even if they think a score is just something from sports. But no, in this case a score is 20 of something. Here, a span of 20 years.

This line is a bit of an inside remark shared with the audience, believed by most historians to be a reference to Psalm 90:10, which most people of the day would know is an allusion to the human lifespan.

"The days of our years are threescore years and 10," says the psalm. "And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."

The Gettysburg Address is short enough to share in its entirety. This chart shows the differences between who shared the whole speech and the first few words of it November 17-18. There is a sharp gender difference.

Cornelius said Lincoln used such phrasing as a subtle reminder that the nation was only a youthful 87 years old. Lincoln felt the United States was setting an example for the world, and he didn't want the experiment in democracy to fail.

"He's a little bit worried that the nation might die at about the average lifespan that a human would," Cornelius said. "He's putting forth straightforward political terms in a poetic way."

That, and people tend to remember the beginnings of speeches, Cornelius said.

'All men are created equal'

More clever wordplay is at work in this famous quotation.

"In his call for democracy and equality, (Lincoln) doesn't mention slavery, but everyone knew that was what he was talking about," Cornelius said.

See what he did there? This phrase can be interpreted as both an allusion to the principles of the Declaration of Independence and also as a not-so-subtle jab at the institution of slavery.

Little doubt exists that Lincoln opposed slavery, and in fact loathed it, Cornelius said. Slavery was at the heart of the war. Lincoln struggled with how to go about eliminating it, and had to be convinced by legal thinkers and abolitionists that he had the governmental power to tackle it.

'These dead shall not have died in vain'

Something about this part of the speech may be touching a nerve somewhere.

This part was the second-most-mentioned phrase in the entire speech, rivaling "four score and seven years ago" in popularity, despite the fact that it's not a particularly well-known part of the Gettysburg Address.

But Lincoln can't take full credit for this phrase, Cornelius said, because it was a fairly common expression used in the parlance of war. It speaks to a need for soldiers' deaths to mean something, if they must occur -- a timeless desire we echo today.

How tech preserves the Gettysburg Address

"This is always a problem in warfare. Why should any other people die? There is always a percentage of the population that will make that argument at a certain point. Lincoln's contrary point was that they died defending you. They felt so strongly about the right of the cause. They felt so strongly about preserving the union and ending slavery that you should not let their efforts carry into the wind. You should continue on and further this effort."

Another phrase from the same section of the speech was also frequently cited: "It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us."

The takeaway here is persistence in the face of adversity.

Two of the more demographically divergent phrases in the Gettysburg Address are "of the people, by the people, for the people" and "all men are created equal," judging by Facebook data from November 17-18.

'Government of the people, by the people, for the people'

This famous phrase, as well as the few words immediately before and after it, got lots of mentions on Facebook. Baron pointed out that anything at the end or beginning of a speech is probably automatically more memorable. It doesn't hurt if a speech is structured to enhance this effect, either.

It's such a beloved word grouping that numerous people have borrowed it, massaged it and restated it with a slightly different twist, like a game of telephone in an era without telephones.

Cornelius said historians trace this part back to Daniel Webster, a senator and U.S. secretary of state before the Civil War. Webster's words were, "The people's government, made for the people, made by the people and answerable to the people."

It was later repurposed by the abolitionist minister Theodore Parker, who talked about a "government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people."

Even Lincoln himself is said to have used a version of the phrase in a letter 20 years before the address, Cornelius said.

Cornelius said the key to the power of this phrase is in its skillful use of repetition. The point of "people" is driven straight into your mind by its frequent mention. That's why so many people have recycled it over the years.

Fast-forward to today, and we're still sharing all the phrases above.

Cornelius said one can see the endurance of Lincoln's speaking legacy by taking a stroll into the Lincoln library's gift shop, where you can pick up your very own T-shirt with a Lincoln quotation on it. One recently released item has the whole text printed on it.

Lincoln's speech endures like few others, especially in our everyman-politician era. Maybe that's why people can't help but post the speech on social media, 150 years after the fact.

Why do you think the Gettysburg Address endures today, and why do some lines seem to resonate more with different places and groups in the United States? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com

Judith's review of Necessary Line by Jane O'Roarke

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Judith's review of Necessary Line by Jane O'Roarke

Kaida Petrovic left Sarajevo, looking for a better life for her family. She never expected to find herself kidnapped, her brother missing, and her life turned upside down by not one, but two, amazing men. What's a girl to do? Love them both?

Before meeting Kaida, NFL teammates, Jett Tupuo and Leo Sullivan, had played well together, on and off the field. Saving the girl and winning the Super Bowl was the easy part. Figuring how two alpha males could love the same woman, without killing each other, that was the kicker. 

It is a well-accepted belief that professional athletes really, really enjoy their money off the field as much if not more than they do playing the game for which they are paid so much.  That fact has been reinforced in fiction as well as in the news media time and again.  So it is not surprise that our heroes, Jett Tupuo and Leo Sullivan, both teammates on a winning NFL team that is nearly to the play-offs and destined for the Super Bowl, are playing hard in a downtown hotel suite--these two as well as another teammate, making a total of three football players--all of them enjoying a willing woman.  That's right--one woman, and it is upon this scene that Kaida (pronounced Kadja) happens upon as she is finishing her day's work as one of the hotel maids.  This is her last room and she wants to get it done and go home.  Hearing no response to her brief knock, she opens the door with her passkey and this is what she finds.  Rather than being immediately shocked, Kaida is mesmerized by the scene before her, and curiously, the "players" don't notice her at first until she quietly apologizes and begins backing out of the door.  

Now  here's where the story begins to get really interesting for me:  Kaida is tired, lines of weariness etched on her face, her hair is less than neat, and any make-up she might have started out with is gone.  Yet when Jett and Leo spy her backing out of their room, they immediately lose interest in their female playmate and the attention is riveted on Kaida.  She sees them following her and she runs like heck!!  Immediately she is thrown back into the scenario she faced many times when being pursued by the enemy soldiers in Sarajevo--the many times she was caught and raped--and being chased by two hulking NFL players seemed so familiar.  They are determined to find her and find her they did--bloody and broken on her apartment floor just minutes after being brutally beaten by the drug lord minions who are seeking her 16 year old brother.  He has become involved with a gang that serve as "runners" for this drug lord, and Brother-dear has absconded with a drug delivery and is now missing.  Jett and Leo pick her up, admit her to a hospital and keep watch over her--men from whom she ran and who she doesn't know from Adam.  And when they aren't looking, she signs herself out of the hospital and runs away again.  This lady's history is getting in their way, or at least that is how they see it.

Suffice it to say that Jett and Leo do eventually convince Kaida that she is no longer safe in her apartment, that they will add their connections and resources to the task of finding her brother, and put her mother in a retirement community where she is happy as a clam.  They also convince her to enter into an affair with them both, although the friendship between Jett and Leo is strained for a time.  Whose woman is she, anyway?  But Kaida's past hurts and her fear of being abused keep her from trusting and it is a long haul ahead of her in that department.  On the flip side of things, Jett and Leo struggle also.  They are beginning to believe that they are falling in love with Kaida, but that love is competing with their love of football and performing in the professional games.  Somehow they realize that they are going to have to make a choice about who will come firsts with them:  Kaida and her safety and well-being, or professional football.

I found this short novel to be incredibly well-written and so very poorly edited.  I know a few of my former high school English students who could have done a better job, and if Ms O'Roarke paid someone or the publisher paid someone to edit and correct, they did NOT get their money's worth.  As I look back on the reading experience, though, I found that the obvious sloppy handling of this story grew less and less important as I got into the tale and began to feel a connection of sorts with the characters.  (This empathy I feel for fictional characters has always been a mixed bag for me and one of the reasons that when a character is too strong, it really wrings me out emotionally.)  I could almost feel Kaida's shyness and reticence when she attended her first NFL game and got sort of "worked over" by some of the other players' wives and/or girlfriends.  No wonder she refused to ever go to another one.  Her brother's enemies haven't gone away, either, and it is quite a joy to see Kaida's inner strength which has been forged in the hell of war to not fail her when they come after again.  Add in Jett's former college roommate who is not in Navy espionage as a SEAL along with some of his cronies, and you have a full cast of characters who jump off the page and make this a massively entertaining read.

Apart from the obvious difficulties with the text, this is a fun read.  It is stand alone although there is a sequel that has also been published.  This novel came out in the Spring of 2010, but it is new to me.  I am delighted to have found it and want to read the sequel as soon as possible.  It is published by a publisher previously unknown to me, but I celebrate so  many of these smaller, newer publishing houses that make really good stories available to us by such good authors as Ms O'Roarke.  I hope you will take the time to acquire this story.  Enjoy!!

Rating: 4 out of 5

You can read more from Judith at  Dr. J's Book Place.


This book is available from Bonaparte Press. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Judith's review of His Five Favorite Lines by Gina Gordon

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Judith's review of His Five Favorite Lines by Gina Gordon

Jordan hasn't been able to stop thinking about Becca since their steamy encounter in the elevator. He is determined to have her again but when she shoots down his proposition, Jordan decides to get creative. But over the course of the week, Jordan realizes it isn't only sex that holds his interest and with every pick-up line the stakes get higher. This time, Jordan is playing for keeps.

This is truly a short story--a quickie read--and one that is really a lot of fun.  We have all heard about pick-up lines, and many have experienced them as well.  Our tale begins with the main characters having already had their erotic, sexy encounter in an elevator that got stuck.  (This encounter is the subject of the first story in this series: Her Five Favorite Words.   Becca is one of those people who gets claustrophobic and the hugs and kisses that morphed into another kind of togetherness were initially an attempt to prevent an all-out panic attack.  Jordan is definitely wanting more.  So he decides to use the five pick-up lines that have worked for him.

Becca is the kind of woman who backs up from emotional and sexual experiences and analyses--often to the ultimate death of a relationship.  Yet, Jordan is a persistent guy, and each day he finds a way to intercept her on the way to work--in the coffee shop, at the entrance to the elevators, waiting at the elevator on her floor, etc.  Does it work?  Well, that is the core of the story.

This little literary snack is one of those that can be enjoyed with your lunch, or a few minutes in the evening waiting for the microwave entre to cook, or some other short span of time in a day's routine.  It is about two people who came together under unusual circumstances and are finding it hard to normalize their relationship, understanding rightly that one sexual encounter does not provide adequate foundation for anything other than, perhaps, an opportunity to get to know each other better in other ways.  I am not really a fan of short stories unless they are extremely well-written.  I found that this little piece was really quite adequate to tell the story and to not rush the characters through to a conclusion.  This is the second in a series of little stories having the number "five" in their title and it will be fascinating to see how this series plays out and how these two move on in their relationship.

I found this little story to be vastly entertaining.  It is cute and interesting and I recommend it.  I give this rating a 3.75 out of 5, mostly because of its shorter length than any other factor.

This book is available from Breathless Press. You can buy it here in e-format.