Morgan Furtado Ms. Lehmann English 1-1A 27 September 2018 The Values of Our Nation What are the values of our nation that have stood the test of time? Both “The Gettysburg Address” and “Quilt of a Country” explore this very question. This essay will compare and contrast “Gettysburg Address,” by Abraham Lincoln and “Quilt of a Country,” by Anna Quindlen. The first value the two authors explore is unity. Both Lincoln and Quindlen see the value of unity in our nation. By unifying our people, the United States will be stronger and go further in the future. Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” delivered after one of the bloodiest of the Civil War, stresses the importance of uniting the North and South. Lincoln tells his audience to make sure that “this nation under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth” (Lincoln 28). Lincoln recognized that the only way to keep this country’s government alive was to unify the two parts of the nation. Like Lincoln, Quindlen wants the people of the Untied States to get along so we can function as one nation. Quindlen, though, is concerned with uniting the various cultures that make up our country today. Quindlen writes, “One of the things that [America] stands for is this vexing notion that a nation can consist entirely of refugees from other nations, that people of different, even warning religions and cultures can live, if not side by side, the on either side of the country’s Chester Avenues” (Quindlen 5). Quindlen makes the observationthat unity is one of the values that have stood the test of time in our nation. Although it looks different today than it did for Lincoln, unity still matters to our nation. Unity often leads to patriotism, another value the authors share. Lincoln and Quindlen both demonstrate a large amount of patriotism and urge their audiences to share in that as well. “The Gettysburg Address,” delivered at the dedication of the Gettysburg Cemetery, honored the fallen soldiers who fought for the North. Lincoln tells his audience that “we connot dedicate – we cannot consecrate – we cannot hallow this ground” because “The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our power to add or detract” (Lincoln 27). Lincoln praises the soldiers for their patriotism and urges the audience to show the same dedication to the U.S. For Quindlen, patriotism means being proud of our nation’s diversity. Quindlen writes that “patriotism is partly taking pride in the unlikely anility 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). While Lincoln was proud of the soldiers who fought to unify the country politically, Quindlen’s patriotism lies in unifying our modern, diverse population. Although it takes different forms, both authors agree that the Untied States is unlike any other country, and that is something its citizens should be proud of. Along with patriotism, both authors are responding to a nation under duress. Lincoln and Quindlen are both responding to a tragic experiences that are similar and different. Both authors talk about how their audience is scared about what has happened to our nation. TheU.S. had just gone through the bloodiest battle in the Civil War. Lincoln says in his speech “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). Lincoln says that we need to come together and repay the fallen soldiers for what they have done for our nation. Quindlen is writing her essay right after the 9\11 attack that struck fear in our nation. Quindlen says in her essay, “faced with this diversity there is little point in trying to isolate anything remotely resembling a national character, but there are two strains of behavior that, however tenuously, abet the concept of unity” (Quindlen 5). Quindlen is talking aboutrefugees and different cultures in the U.S. We are still one nation, and we need to come together instead of falling apart. Both authors are bringing their people together after a tragic experience thathappened in the nation. Even though these things were in different time periods, we were still Americans, forced with tragedy. “The Gettysburg Address” and “A Quilt of a Country” both examine the values of our nation, though they do so in different ways. Abraham Lincoln and Anna Quindlen both talk about unity and patriotism in their own context in ways that are similar and different. For both authors, unity is important, politically for Lincoln and culturally for Quindlen. Patriotism for Lincoln centerson the government of the US while Quindlen values our diversity, but both authors agree that patriotismmatters . Lincoln and Quindlen both when through a tragedy in different time periods. Lincoln’s and Quindlen’s works prove that unity and patriotism are values of our nation that have stood the test of time.
Works Cited Lincoln, Abraham. “The Gettysburg Address.” Collections. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017 Quindlen, Anna. “Quilt of a Country.” Collections. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017
Compare and Contrast Reflection 1. List one thing you've learned from writing this paper that you can apply to other writing assignments. What will the look like? -I learned from writing this essay that I need to put more information into the things I write. But if I put to much information it feels like it goes on and on. 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?