Yarleth Zepeda
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-1A
10 October 2019
Equality, Unity, and Patriotism in America
Elmer Davis once said, “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” Throughout American history, the struggles to attain an equal, united nation have been passed on. This essay will compare and contrast how Anna Quindlen’s “A Quilt of a Country” and Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” treat the issues of equality, unity, and patriotism in their visions of the American dream. Equality is the first ideal both authors discuss.
Quindlen and Lincoln both discuss equality in their works. Both authors agree that equality is an ideal worth striving for even though we have not yet achieved it in our nation. Quindlen explains that our nations has held onto the value of equality since its creation. She writes, “America… is held together by the notion that all men are created equal” (Quindlen 3). Here, Quindlen highlights the value of equality, not only as something we should fight for, but also as value that has held our nation together. Quindlen points to cultural inequalities in our nation, but Lincoln faced much more severe issues surrounding slavery. Lincoln, like Quindlen, saw the inequalities in the way people in our country were treated, but he fought a civil war to free slaves. In his speech, he says, “We here highly resolve that… this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom” (Lincoln 28). Lincoln wanted equality to keep our nation together, but he didn’t see the fruits of his labor. Along with equality, unity was also important to both authors.
Furthermore, both authors saw values in unity. They saw how important unity was, and recognized how difficult it was to put into practice. Quindlen knows unity is important and that we often fail to achieve it. She writes, “This is a nation founded on a conundrum, what Mario Cuomo has characterized as ‘community added to individualism.’ These two are our defining ideas; they are also in constant conflict” (Quindlen 4). Quindlen is saying that the U.S. values unity, but we also like our individualism, which doesn’t always align with unity. She urges people to continue trying for unity anyway. While Quindlen wanted the country to be more united socially, Lincoln was trying to put the U.S. back together after the South seceded during the civil war. Quindlen notices that the nation came together after 9/11, but Lincoln saw the country divide over the issues of slavery. Lincoln urges people to make sure that “The government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth ” (Lincoln 281). Lincoln wanted to reunite the government so we would remain one united nation. Both Quindlen and Lincoln wanted to unite the US, but they sought for different kinds of unity. Moving on, patriotism also plays a big part in both author’s statements.
For both Quindlen and Lincoln, patriotism requires pride in the USA. Quindlen says patriotism means being proud of our country even though everyone is different. Without it we couldn’t come together as one. Quindlen says, “But 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 defines patriotism as pride in our struggle to stay together, despite our differences. Quindlen’s definition doesn’t require as much sacrifice as Lincoln’s. Lincoln needed more than pride. He needed devotion to the nation. At the dedication of the National Cemetery, Lincoln said, “We have come together to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live” (Lincoln 27). Lincoln’s definition of patriotism was being devoted enough to fight for your nation. Even though both Quindlen and Lincoln’s definitions of patriotism weren’t the exact same, they had pride in the USA.
Equality, unity, and patriotism are all ideals that Quindlen and Lincoln share, though they value them in different ways. Both authors agree that equality is an ideal worth striving for, but we’re not there yet. They believe we should work for equality, though in different ways. Moving on, both authors believe that unity is what holds our nation together, but they both think in different ways. Lastly, authors Quindlen and Lincoln both strongly believe in patriotism. Quindlen believes patriotism is about having pride, though Lincoln believes it takes more than that to be a patriot. So, Lincoln and Quindlen prove Elmer Davis’ ideas about the American dream; our nation only works when its citizens are brave enough to work for it.
Works Cited Page
Lincoln, Abraham. "Gettysburg Address." Collections, edited by Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, & Lydia Stack, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 27-28.
Quindlen, Anna. "A Quilt of a Country." Collections, edited by Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, & Lydia Stack, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 3-6.
Compare and Contrast Essay Reflection
2. What qualifies this paper as a compare and contrast essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
Since this paper was a compare and contrast essay, we had to compare Quindlen and Lincoln's stories. Because we compared and contrasted, this paper qualifies as a compare and contrast essay. We compared and contrasted Lincoln and Quindlen's views on equality, unity, and patriotism "Equality, unity, and patriotism are all ideals that Quindlen and Lincoln share, though they value them in different ways."
3. Tell me about one challenge you faced writing this paper and how you overcame it.
One challenge I faced while writing this essay was reading Ms. Lehmann's revision notes. Once I asked her what they meant, I got them all fixed.
Ms. Lehmann
English 1-1A
10 October 2019
Equality, Unity, and Patriotism in America
Elmer Davis once said, “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” Throughout American history, the struggles to attain an equal, united nation have been passed on. This essay will compare and contrast how Anna Quindlen’s “A Quilt of a Country” and Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” treat the issues of equality, unity, and patriotism in their visions of the American dream. Equality is the first ideal both authors discuss.
Quindlen and Lincoln both discuss equality in their works. Both authors agree that equality is an ideal worth striving for even though we have not yet achieved it in our nation. Quindlen explains that our nations has held onto the value of equality since its creation. She writes, “America… is held together by the notion that all men are created equal” (Quindlen 3). Here, Quindlen highlights the value of equality, not only as something we should fight for, but also as value that has held our nation together. Quindlen points to cultural inequalities in our nation, but Lincoln faced much more severe issues surrounding slavery. Lincoln, like Quindlen, saw the inequalities in the way people in our country were treated, but he fought a civil war to free slaves. In his speech, he says, “We here highly resolve that… this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom” (Lincoln 28). Lincoln wanted equality to keep our nation together, but he didn’t see the fruits of his labor. Along with equality, unity was also important to both authors.
Furthermore, both authors saw values in unity. They saw how important unity was, and recognized how difficult it was to put into practice. Quindlen knows unity is important and that we often fail to achieve it. She writes, “This is a nation founded on a conundrum, what Mario Cuomo has characterized as ‘community added to individualism.’ These two are our defining ideas; they are also in constant conflict” (Quindlen 4). Quindlen is saying that the U.S. values unity, but we also like our individualism, which doesn’t always align with unity. She urges people to continue trying for unity anyway. While Quindlen wanted the country to be more united socially, Lincoln was trying to put the U.S. back together after the South seceded during the civil war. Quindlen notices that the nation came together after 9/11, but Lincoln saw the country divide over the issues of slavery. Lincoln urges people to make sure that “The government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth ” (Lincoln 281). Lincoln wanted to reunite the government so we would remain one united nation. Both Quindlen and Lincoln wanted to unite the US, but they sought for different kinds of unity. Moving on, patriotism also plays a big part in both author’s statements.
For both Quindlen and Lincoln, patriotism requires pride in the USA. Quindlen says patriotism means being proud of our country even though everyone is different. Without it we couldn’t come together as one. Quindlen says, “But 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 defines patriotism as pride in our struggle to stay together, despite our differences. Quindlen’s definition doesn’t require as much sacrifice as Lincoln’s. Lincoln needed more than pride. He needed devotion to the nation. At the dedication of the National Cemetery, Lincoln said, “We have come together to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live” (Lincoln 27). Lincoln’s definition of patriotism was being devoted enough to fight for your nation. Even though both Quindlen and Lincoln’s definitions of patriotism weren’t the exact same, they had pride in the USA.
Equality, unity, and patriotism are all ideals that Quindlen and Lincoln share, though they value them in different ways. Both authors agree that equality is an ideal worth striving for, but we’re not there yet. They believe we should work for equality, though in different ways. Moving on, both authors believe that unity is what holds our nation together, but they both think in different ways. Lastly, authors Quindlen and Lincoln both strongly believe in patriotism. Quindlen believes patriotism is about having pride, though Lincoln believes it takes more than that to be a patriot. So, Lincoln and Quindlen prove Elmer Davis’ ideas about the American dream; our nation only works when its citizens are brave enough to work for it.
Works Cited Page
Lincoln, Abraham. "Gettysburg Address." Collections, edited by Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, & Lydia Stack, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 27-28.
Quindlen, Anna. "A Quilt of a Country." Collections, edited by Kylene Beers, Martha Hougen, Carol Jago, William L. McBride, Erik Palmer, & Lydia Stack, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017, pp. 3-6.
Compare and Contrast Essay Reflection
- Explain the process you went through to write this paper. Please be specific.
2. What qualifies this paper as a compare and contrast essay? What are the requirements for this genre and how did you meet them?
Since this paper was a compare and contrast essay, we had to compare Quindlen and Lincoln's stories. Because we compared and contrasted, this paper qualifies as a compare and contrast essay. We compared and contrasted Lincoln and Quindlen's views on equality, unity, and patriotism "Equality, unity, and patriotism are all ideals that Quindlen and Lincoln share, though they value them in different ways."
3. Tell me about one challenge you faced writing this paper and how you overcame it.
One challenge I faced while writing this essay was reading Ms. Lehmann's revision notes. Once I asked her what they meant, I got them all fixed.