Arlette Juarez Ms. Lehman 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 “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 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 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 today. Quindlen writes, “One of the things that [America] stands for is this 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). 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 than it did for Lincoln, unity still matters to or nation. Unity often leads to patriotism, another value the authors share. Lincoln and Quindlen both demonstrated 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 hallow 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). 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 United 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 anaudience having just experienced tragedy. Both authors talk about how people are terrified of what happened to their country. Lincoln writes his speech after a tragic battle that killed many soldiers in the civil war. 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 27-8). Lincoln is saying that we need to come together and repay the fallen soldiers for what they have done for our nation. Quindlen writes her essay after the 9/11 attack. In Quindlen’s essay, she says “enormous tragedy, as it is often does, demands a time of reflection on enormous blessing” (Quindlen 4). Quindlen points to our ability to stand together and get along with each other as a blessing after something like the 9/11. Both Lincoln and Quindlen wanted to make a difference in this world. They wanted everyone to work together so that we wouldn’t have the same problems in the future. “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 both of their contexts in ways that are similar and different. For both authors, unity is important, politically for Lincoln and culturally for Quindlen. Patriotism for Lincoln centers the government of the US while Quindlen values our diversity, but both authors agree that patriotism matters. Lincoln and Quindlen both address a nation in different time periods. Lincoln’s and Quindlen’s works prove that unityand 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. Haughton 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 that look like? > I learned how to gather information and show who I got it from and who said the information. This shows will show who or what the information is from. 2. Identify a specific revision you were asked to make explain why (this can be at any stage of the writing process). How did you revise? What did you learn? > One specific revision I was asked to do was to take out a sentence and reword it so that it makes since. I took out the sentence and put in something different instead. I learned how to take my time and reword things. 3. What are the conventions of a compare and contrast essay and how did you meet those in this assignment? > One of the conventions that I came upon in this essay was how I had the find the person who said the information. I met those in this assignment when I found the information. 4. Given more time to work on this assignment, how would you improve it? > If I had more time to work on this assignment I would have worked more and have done better on revising my essay before I turned it in that way I didn’t have so many things to fix. 5. What is one thing you’re proud of in this paper? > I am proud of how I took the time to get the information. I am also proud of how I fixed my mistakes on my paper after I got it back