Mary Meyer
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-3
25 September 2018
“The Gettysburg Address” vs. “A Quilt of a Country”
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 ideal 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 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 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 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 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 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. To unify our nation, we first need to overcome the challenges presented to us.
Both Abraham Lincoln and Anna Quindlen want to overcome struggles in the United States. The authors both recognize the imperfections in our nation, and they see the value of overcoming those imperfections. Quindlen recognizes smaller struggles throughout the nation over time. Quindlen lists, “slavery and sweatshops, the burning of crosses and the ostracism of the other. Children learn in social studies class and in the news of the lynching of blacks, the denial of rights to women, the murders of gay men” (Quindlen 3-4). These are clearly examples of struggles in our nation over the years that could possible cause our nation to divide. Quindlen takes pride, however, in the fact that we haven’t divided. In “The Gettysburg Address,” Lincoln talks about a big struggle in our nation: the civil war. The civil war was a struggle that was still going on and was not finished. Lincoln says, “It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced,” (Lincoln 27-28). This was a big enough struggle that people fighting in the battles were killed and those who were still living needed to finish the job. Both authors agree on that our nation has struggles and some of them can rip this nation apart, but that it is by overcoming those struggles that our nation grows stronger.
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 struggles, 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
*List one thing you’ve learned from writing this paper that you can apply to other writing assignments. What will that look like?
-A good paper has only what it needs, giving the important information. It will stay on its chosen subject.
*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 fix a few things, like changing the wording or getting rid of words completely. I did so and learned to stay on subject.
*What are the conventions of a compare and contrast essay and how did you meet those in this assignment?
- In a compare and contrast essay, you need to show the similarities and differences without showing any person opinion. I was able to show some similarities and differences of these two author’s subjects without showing opinion.
*Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it?
- I believe that there is not more I could do on this assignment.
*What is one thing you’re proud of in this paper?
- I am proud of how I could compare and contrast the two texts.