Jessy Cardenas Ms. Lehmann English 1-3 25 September 2018
Compare and Contrast Paper 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 equality 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 writes, “that the U.A. is 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 dedication to the proposition that all men are created equal” (Lincoln27). 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 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 side of the country’s Chester Avenues” (Quindlen 5). Here, the author clearly valuesand unity 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 nation. Both authors agree that patriotism is also necessary for the survival of our nation. One thing that Anna Quindlen and Abraham Lincoln both talk about is patriotism in our nation. Anna Quindlen talks about how her pride in her country lies in our unity as a diverse nation. Quindlen writes “patriotism is 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” (Quindlen6). Lincoln also shows patriotism by wanting our country to survive so many other countries can follow in America’s footsteps. Lincoln says, “The world with little note will long remember ” (Lincoln5). They both talk about and stand for patriotism because they both show outstanding want for their country to over-come and standout in this world even though there circumstances are different they both share the same message. Anna Quindlen and Abraham Lincoln share many similarities and differences in the values they see in our nation. Both “The Gettysburg Address” and “Quilt of a Country” explore the values of equality, unity, and patriotism, though they do so in different ways. By exclaiming 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 our nation’s identity has remained true throughout our nation’s history.
Compare and Contrast Essay Reflection 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 set up and compare and contrast essay the right way.
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 was asked to make a better flow with the sentences with learn how to make a passage make sense all together.
3. What are the conventions of a compare and contrast essay and how did you meet those in this assignments?
In a compare and contrast essay you can have opinions and make your statements.
4. Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it?
I would have made my arguments better and think out all of my arguments.
5. What is one thing you're proud of in the paper?
Im proud of the fact that this is as long as it is and that the arguments made sense.