Isaac Jones Ms. Lehmann English 1-3 September 25, 2018
Equality, Unity, and Patriotism 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's famous speech, "The Gettysburg Address" With Anna Quindlen's article, "A Quilt of a Country." Both authors recognize 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 a more peaceful nation. Quindlen urges her audience to end the tensions between the various cultures in 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 equal" (Lincoln 27). While Quindlen talks about equality among diverse cultures, Lincoln urges the nation to end slavery. While the goals of the authors are different, both realize Equality as a defining value of 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 on either sides 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 this 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 civil war testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure"(Lincoln 27). Lincoln also 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. Another key to our nation's survival seems to be patriotism. Quindlen and Lincoln both want people to be patriotic and care about their country. Quindlen wants people to stay strong, together, and to fight terrorism. She also wants them to fight for their country, so that they can keep their freedom, and be a diverse nation. She writes, "Patriotism is partly taking pride in this unlikely ability to throw all of us together in a country that across its length and breadth is as different as a dozen countries, and still be able to call it by one name"(Quindlen 6) This quote is about how we can still be one nation, even with the different opposing cultures and races we can still be one nation under god. Lincoln wants to get everyone to participate and be one country with equal rights, and be proud of themselves and their country. He says they will need to be"Dedicated to the proposition... can long endure" (Lincoln 27). I chose this quote because it states that our country was dedicated to the proposition that everyone is created equal, and that we are fighting ourselves and to see if we will survive or not. The authors agree in their ideas because even though they are from different times and places, they still have the same ideas about the basic principals of our nation. Anna Quindlen and Abraham Lincoln share many similarities and differences in the values they see in our nation. Both "The Gettysburg Address" and "A Quilt of a Country" explore the values of equality, unity, and patriotism, though they do so in different ways. By examining these two authors, one can trace how our nation was 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 Questions
Q:List one thing you've learned from writing this paper that you can apply to other writing assignments. what will that look like?
A:I learned how to correctly use and type quotes. in the future this will help me to correctly state the authors name and the important things they may have written, typed, or said.
Q:Identify a specific revision you were asked to make and explain why (this can be at any stage of the writing process). How did you revise? What did you learn?
A:I was asked to place a transition between the end of a paragraph and a new one. I was asked to do this because it's needed for a nice paper. I wrote a sentence in the gap, and this helped me to learn to make my papers smoother.
Q:What are the conventions of a compare and contrast essay and how did you meet those in this assignment?
A: They are to compare and contrast two or more items and show examples. I gave multiple quotes and compared the two authors and their works.
Q:Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it?
A:I would finish adjusting the incorrect portions and add more to make it sound better.
Q:What is one thing you are proud of in this paper?
A:I am proud of the work that I put into this essay, both in length and the overall quality.