Diagramming Sentences

Sentence Diagrams

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                                              Abraham Lincoln's                                                           Gettysburg Address
 
Sentence 10: "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."
 
Comments: The infinitive phrase introduced by to be here dedicated is in apposition with the subject of the sentence, it. The sentence features five noun clauses, each  introduced by the expletive that, and one adjective clause. Two of the noun clauses are in apposition with the noun task, and three constitute a compound direct object of the verb resolve. The antecedent of the relative pronoun which is the noun cause. (I am indebted for this analysis to a Language Arts teacher at Atlanta ’s Pinecrest Academy, "where sentence diagramming is alive and well.” Their website is www.pinecrestacademy.org. My original analysis, according to which four of the noun clauses were purpose clauses, was wrong.) Errata: The adverb not is missing under shall perish, and there should be no and between by the people and for the people.
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