Select the correct text in the passage.
in which part of this excerpt from the gettysburg address does president abraham lincoln argue that the outcome of the war will depend on the
determination and loyalty of northern citizens?
four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on 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 battle-field of that war. we have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that
nation might live. it is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
but, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate--we can not consecrate-we can not 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. it is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus
far so nobly advanced. it is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take
increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion-that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have
died in vain that this nation, under god, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall
not perish from the earth.

j ol

explanatiok ibj ojnuonjjk

sthe miracle worker  ▾search

home  >   study guides  >   the miracle worker

the miracle worker themeswilliam gibson

themes and meanings

(comprehensive guide to drama)

print  print  document  pdf  list  cite  link  link

there are two central themes in  the miracle worker: that the human spirit can triumph over even the most daunting of disabilities and that a dedicated teacher can transform the lives of those with whom he or she comes into contact. these inspirational themes have long been personified in the widely known true-life relationship between helen keller and annie sullivan, but  the miracle worker  also dramatizes collateral issues that extend beyond the particular case. underlying helen’s process of learning basic principles of what annie terms “obedience” (decorum, etiquette, and hygiene), there are more universal lessons of self-governance—the inculcation of self-restraint instead of willfulness, the development of self-discipline instead of self-indulgence. only when these lessons have been mastered can helen begin to acquire language—which, annie says, “is to the mind more than light is to the eye.”

there are several different forms of presenting this; each has a very specific format. plays have a very simple format; teleplays, for television shows, or screenplays, for movies, have more complex and strict rules for formatting.

drama

the first of these to be written for the express purpose of being performed were created by the greeks. many of our modern terms derive from greek origins.

comedy

in the greek sense, a play that doesn't end in death. in modern usage, refers to a play that is humorous.

tragedy

in the greek sense, a play that ends with the death of at least one of the main characters. in modern usage, refers to a play that doesn't have a happy ending.