Kalea Delgado 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 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 libertyand 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 are different, both of them 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 Unites 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 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 the 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. Quindlen and Lincoln both value the importance of unity, patriotism, and how the people should honor our amazing country. Anna Quindlen and Abraham Lincoln believe that patriotism is a big part of the United States of America. Both authors think that our country is special and that the readers should, too. Quindlen believes our country is special because the United States has freedom and diversity. Quindlen found a survey, where many of them voted that “The U.S. is a unique country that stands for something special in the world” (Quindlen 5). Anna Quindlen is trying to point out to readers that the U.S. is an amazing country where a diverse group of people can live and not be ashamed of who they are. Lincoln wants the audience and readers to know that our government was made for the people of the United States. Lincoln states that the“government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth” (Lincoln 28). Abraham Lincoln knows that our government is unique because it gives power to the people and people died for our country, so therefore we should honor them for their sacrifices. Both authors value something different about our country, they both believe that patriotism is a big part of the United States of America. Anna Quindlen and Abraham Lincoln share many similarities and differences and 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 & Contrast Reflection Questions
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 cite quotes on my papers.- This will help me cite other quotes for other papers that I may use in other papers such as essays, or research papers.
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 lot of my revisions, I had to cite my quotes, because I forgot to do it before. I had to look up the quote in the English book and put the author’s last name and the page number I found it on. In future papers, I won’t forget to cite my quotes.
What are the conventions of a compare and contrast essay and how did you meet those in this assignment? - First, you had to write an introduction with the thesis statement. Next, organize your essay by topic or work, have parallel structure, and compare and contrast the things you are using and include your evidence. Lastly, reword your thesis statement in the conclusion. I met these conventions by typing my introduction about the “Gettysburg Address” and “Quilt of a Country” and making sure I had my thesis statement in my intro. Second, I organized my paragraphs using top and making sure that I put Anna Quindlen first in every paragraph. Third, I made sure I was comparing and contrasting the two stories and I had my evidence to support my claims.
Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it? - I would read through it once or twice and cite the quotes that I missed.
What is one thing you’re proud of in this paper? I am proud of my patriotism paragraph. - I thought I had a good transition sentence and I had quotes to support my statements that I used.