Alexis Van Sickle
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-3
25 September 2018
Quindlen and Lincoln
Elmer Davis once said, “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it remains the land of the brave.” Many people have expressed opinions about what is necessary to keep America’s ideals alive, including Abraham Lincoln and Anna Quindlen. This essay will compare and contrast Abraham Lincoln’s famous speech “The Gettysburg Address” with Anna Quindlen’s article “A Quilt of a Country.” Both authors recognized the importance of equality to our national identity.
Anna Quindlen and Abraham Lincoln both strive to convince their audiences to treat one another equally. Both authors make the argument that treating one another equally will lead to more peaceful nation. Quindlen urges her audience to end the tensions between the various cultures that exist within the United States. She describes our nation as “a mongrel nation built of ever-changing disparate parts…held together by…the notion that all men are created equal” (Quindlen 3). Quindlen highlights the fact that the United States is the only country built upon the concept of equality among people from a variety of cultural backgrounds. One hundred and thirty-eight years earlier, Abraham Lincoln spoke to an entire audience of Americans urging them to fight for the equality of slaves. Lincoln wrote that America was “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” (Lincoln 27). While Quindlen talks about equality among diverse cultures, Lincoln urges the nation to end slavery. While the goals of the authors a different, both recognize equality as a defining value to our nation. Similar parallels can be seen in their opinions about unity.
Both Abraham Lincoln and Anna Quindlen want to bring the United States of America’s people together. Quindlen wants to unite the various, diverse cultures that live in the U.S. Quindlen says that our country stands for the “vexing notion that a great nation can consist entirely of refugees from other nations, that people of different, even warring religions and cultures can live, if not side by side, then and either side of the country’s Chester Avenues” (Quindlen 5). Here, the author clearly values unity and explains that one of the unique and valuable characteristics of the country is that diverse people can coexist peacefully as one complete nation. While Quindlen seeks to unify diverse cultures, Lincoln sought to unify the North and South during the Civil War. Lincoln begins his speech by telling the audience that “now, we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure” (Lincoln 27). Lincoln urges his audience to work toward the goal of unifying the nation to ensure the survival of our country. Both authors agree that unifying our people will lead to the survival of our nation. Both authors sought to unify an America in crisis.
Lincoln and Quindlen both addressed audiences of the American nation. Quindlen addresses the more present-day America by saying “when photographs of the faces of all those who died in the World Trade Center destruction are assembled in one place, it will be possible to trace in the skin color, the shape of the eyes and the noses, the texture of the hair, a map of the world” (Quindlen 6). Quindlen is explaining that our nation has people from every corner of the world. In the catastrophe that is 9-11, many different people died. Their photos show the diversity of races that make up our nation today. Lincoln addressed the north during the Civil War by saying “Now we are engaged in a Civil War, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure” (Lincoln 27). Lincoln shows that the nation’s survival was being tested. Our country was new at the time and the Civil War was a test to see if we would work out our differences and stay a nation or fall apart. Both authors addressed a nation under duress and sought to rally and unify its citizens.
Anna Quindlen and Abraham Lincoln share many similarities and differences on the values they see in our nation. Both “The Gettysburg address” and “A Quilt of a Country” explore the values of equality, unity, and audience, though they do so in different ways. By examining these two authors, one can trace how our nation’s values have changed over time. Ultimately, how these values look may have changed, but that they are central to our nation’s identity has remained true throughout our nation’s history.
Compare and Contrast Reflection
1) List one of the things from writing this paper that you can apply to other writing assignments. What will that look like?
-It works really well to prove your points with quotes. I’ve done this before but never really given where they can be found. Giving that information helps a lot more.
2) Identify a specific revision you were asked to make and explain why. How did you revise? What did you learn?
-On two of my paragraphs I was asked to add a sentence to make it flow better. I did this and it helped a lot in my paper and made me realize how important those sentences are.
3) What are the conventions of a compare and contrast essay and how did you meet those in that assignment?
-No opinions allowed.
4) Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it?
-I don’t really think I could of done much better. I was given plenty of time to do it.
5) What is one thing you are proud of in this paper?
-I’m proud of how well I did the ruff draft in a whole because I’ve never been good at writing argumentative papers, or any paper in a whole.
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-3
25 September 2018
Quindlen and Lincoln
Elmer Davis once said, “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it remains the land of the brave.” Many people have expressed opinions about what is necessary to keep America’s ideals alive, including Abraham Lincoln and Anna Quindlen. This essay will compare and contrast Abraham Lincoln’s famous speech “The Gettysburg Address” with Anna Quindlen’s article “A Quilt of a Country.” Both authors recognized the importance of equality to our national identity.
Anna Quindlen and Abraham Lincoln both strive to convince their audiences to treat one another equally. Both authors make the argument that treating one another equally will lead to more peaceful nation. Quindlen urges her audience to end the tensions between the various cultures that exist within the United States. She describes our nation as “a mongrel nation built of ever-changing disparate parts…held together by…the notion that all men are created equal” (Quindlen 3). Quindlen highlights the fact that the United States is the only country built upon the concept of equality among people from a variety of cultural backgrounds. One hundred and thirty-eight years earlier, Abraham Lincoln spoke to an entire audience of Americans urging them to fight for the equality of slaves. Lincoln wrote that America was “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” (Lincoln 27). While Quindlen talks about equality among diverse cultures, Lincoln urges the nation to end slavery. While the goals of the authors a different, both recognize equality as a defining value to our nation. Similar parallels can be seen in their opinions about unity.
Both Abraham Lincoln and Anna Quindlen want to bring the United States of America’s people together. Quindlen wants to unite the various, diverse cultures that live in the U.S. Quindlen says that our country stands for the “vexing notion that a great nation can consist entirely of refugees from other nations, that people of different, even warring religions and cultures can live, if not side by side, then and either side of the country’s Chester Avenues” (Quindlen 5). Here, the author clearly values unity and explains that one of the unique and valuable characteristics of the country is that diverse people can coexist peacefully as one complete nation. While Quindlen seeks to unify diverse cultures, Lincoln sought to unify the North and South during the Civil War. Lincoln begins his speech by telling the audience that “now, we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure” (Lincoln 27). Lincoln urges his audience to work toward the goal of unifying the nation to ensure the survival of our country. Both authors agree that unifying our people will lead to the survival of our nation. Both authors sought to unify an America in crisis.
Lincoln and Quindlen both addressed audiences of the American nation. Quindlen addresses the more present-day America by saying “when photographs of the faces of all those who died in the World Trade Center destruction are assembled in one place, it will be possible to trace in the skin color, the shape of the eyes and the noses, the texture of the hair, a map of the world” (Quindlen 6). Quindlen is explaining that our nation has people from every corner of the world. In the catastrophe that is 9-11, many different people died. Their photos show the diversity of races that make up our nation today. Lincoln addressed the north during the Civil War by saying “Now we are engaged in a Civil War, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure” (Lincoln 27). Lincoln shows that the nation’s survival was being tested. Our country was new at the time and the Civil War was a test to see if we would work out our differences and stay a nation or fall apart. Both authors addressed a nation under duress and sought to rally and unify its citizens.
Anna Quindlen and Abraham Lincoln share many similarities and differences on the values they see in our nation. Both “The Gettysburg address” and “A Quilt of a Country” explore the values of equality, unity, and audience, though they do so in different ways. By examining these two authors, one can trace how our nation’s values have changed over time. Ultimately, how these values look may have changed, but that they are central to our nation’s identity has remained true throughout our nation’s history.
Compare and Contrast Reflection
1) List one of the things from writing this paper that you can apply to other writing assignments. What will that look like?
-It works really well to prove your points with quotes. I’ve done this before but never really given where they can be found. Giving that information helps a lot more.
2) Identify a specific revision you were asked to make and explain why. How did you revise? What did you learn?
-On two of my paragraphs I was asked to add a sentence to make it flow better. I did this and it helped a lot in my paper and made me realize how important those sentences are.
3) What are the conventions of a compare and contrast essay and how did you meet those in that assignment?
-No opinions allowed.
4) Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it?
-I don’t really think I could of done much better. I was given plenty of time to do it.
5) What is one thing you are proud of in this paper?
-I’m proud of how well I did the ruff draft in a whole because I’ve never been good at writing argumentative papers, or any paper in a whole.