Estevan Contreras Ms. Lehmann English 1-1A 27 September 2018 The Values Of This Nation That Have Withstood The Test Of Time What are the values of our nation that have stood the test of time? Both “The Gettysburg Address” and “Quilt of a Country” explores this very question. This essay will compare and contrast “The 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 unify our people, the United States will be stronger and go further in the future. Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” delivered after one of the bloodiest battles 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 United 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. Quindlen writes, “One of the things that [America] stands for is this vexing notion that a great nation can consist entirely of refuges 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). Quindlen makes the observation that unity is one of the values that have stood the test of time in our nation. Although it looks different today then 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 cannot dedicate –we cannot consecrate –we cannot hollow this ground” because “The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract” (Lincoln 27). He even says that the world “can never forget what they did here”(Lincoln 27). Lincoln praises the soldiers for their patriotism and urges the audience to show the same dedication to the US. For Quindlen, patriotism means being proud of our nation’s diversity. Quindlen writes that” patriotism is partly 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” (Quindlen 6). Quindlen’s patriotism lies in unifying our modern, diverse population. Although it takes different forms, both the authors agree that the United States is unlike any other country, and that is something its citizen should be proud of. Along with patriotism, both authors value the struggle in America. Both Lincoln and Quindlen recognize and value the struggles in America. They urge Americans to not shy away from their problems but to face them head on. Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” addressed a lot of the issues that were going on during the war, but one point he emphasized was that all the struggles the nation had faced were well worth the fight to save the nation from being destroyed like many other nations before it did. Lincoln tells the audience “From these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion –that we highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain” (Lincoln 28). By this Lincoln show that we should carry on what the soldiers started. For Quindlen, the struggles we face now are the same struggles that Lincoln faced, she recognizes that America is always in a sort of theoretical civil war, that racism still and will always exist but, at the end of the day, these struggles unite us in one common goal to improve and face struggles together. She says “ There is that Calvinist undercurrent in the American psyche that loves the difficult, the demanding, that sees mastering the impossible, whether it be prairie or subway, as test of character”(Quindlen 6). Though their ideas take different forms, both agree that struggle is a necessary part of America and that without it we wouldn’t push forward for a brighter tomorrow. “The Gettysburg Address” and “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, patriotism, and struggles in ways that are similar and different. For both authors unity is important, politically for Lincoln and culturally for Quindlen. Patriotism for Lincoln centers on the government of the US while Quindlen values our diversity, but both authors agree that patriotism matters. Struggle for Lincoln lies in the the continuation of America and Quindlen’s lies in terrorists attacks and their impact on America, but both of them agree that struggle is a key part of America. Lincoln’s and Quindlen’s works prove that unity, patriotism, and struggles 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.
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 prioritize my spelling and grammar. I can apply this to other papers by slowing down and revising all my work.
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?
One revision i had to do a lot of is commas and apostrophes. I had to go through multiple times and put or remove them. I learned to to work harder on my knowledge of punctuation.
3. What are the conventions of a Compare & Contrast Essay and how did you meet those in this assignment?
In a compare and contrast essay you must compare and contrast items, stories, and people. I did this by compare and contrasting to different point of views in America.
4. Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it?
If given more time I would take more time with my grammar and make better decisions on what to write.
5, What is one thing you're proud of in this paper?
In this paper I’m most proud that I had few grammar mistakes and that I did really well following the rules of compare and contrast essays.