Cristina Bedolla
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-3
25 September 2018
Compare and Contrast
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 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 that exist within the United States. She describes our nation as “a mongrel nation built of ever-changing disparate parts…held together by…the nation that all men are created equal” (Quindlen 3). Quindlen highlights that fact that the United States is 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 culture, Lincoln urges the nation to end slavery. While the goals of the authors are different, both of them recognize equality as a defining value to our nation. Similar parallels can be seen in their opinion 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 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 this country are that diverse people can coexist peacefully as one complete nation. While Quindlen seeks to unity diver cultures, Lincoln sought to unity 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.
Anna Quindlen and Abraham Lincoln both believe in patriotism. Quindlen wants people from other countries to make up our country and get along. Quindlen says that “even in 1994, the overwhelming majority of those surveyed by the national opinion research center agreed with this statement: ‘the U.S. Is a unique country that stands for something special in the world’” (Quindlen 5). Quindlen states that the national’s people agree that the U.S. Is special. Lincoln believes in patriotism and demonstrates this when he tells his audience that, some people have already died for our country, and those left behind should honor them. Lincoln states “(the) government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth” (Lincoln 28). Both authors agree that our country is unique and that we should all fight for it.
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’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.
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-3
25 September 2018
Compare and Contrast
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 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 that exist within the United States. She describes our nation as “a mongrel nation built of ever-changing disparate parts…held together by…the nation that all men are created equal” (Quindlen 3). Quindlen highlights that fact that the United States is 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 culture, Lincoln urges the nation to end slavery. While the goals of the authors are different, both of them recognize equality as a defining value to our nation. Similar parallels can be seen in their opinion 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 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 this country are that diverse people can coexist peacefully as one complete nation. While Quindlen seeks to unity diver cultures, Lincoln sought to unity 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.
Anna Quindlen and Abraham Lincoln both believe in patriotism. Quindlen wants people from other countries to make up our country and get along. Quindlen says that “even in 1994, the overwhelming majority of those surveyed by the national opinion research center agreed with this statement: ‘the U.S. Is a unique country that stands for something special in the world’” (Quindlen 5). Quindlen states that the national’s people agree that the U.S. Is special. Lincoln believes in patriotism and demonstrates this when he tells his audience that, some people have already died for our country, and those left behind should honor them. Lincoln states “(the) government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth” (Lincoln 28). Both authors agree that our country is unique and that we should all fight for it.
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’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 Questions
1. List one thing you’ve learned from writing this paper that you can apply to other writing assignments. What will that look like?
2. 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?
3. What are the conventions of a compare and contrast essay and how did you meet those in this assignment?
4. Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it?
5. What is one thing you're proud of in this paper?
1. List one thing you’ve learned from writing this paper that you can apply to other writing assignments. What will that look like?
- I learned how to fix sentences and not plagiarize and how to add a quote to me essay and how to give credit to who ever the author is.
2. 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?
- I learned how to site a paper, how to introduce a quote, give the quote and explain it.
3. What are the conventions of a compare and contrast essay and how did you meet those in this assignment?
- First you had to give a hook and thesis statement, explain how they compare and contrast give evidence and your conclusion.
4. Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it?
- If I had more time I would try and add more information that proves how they compared and contrasted each other.
5. What is one thing you're proud of in this paper?
- I’m proud that I actually got to the end of this essay. That I typed a paper I had no idea I could do.