Preview

Analysis Of Guilt Of A Country By Anna Quindlen

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
596 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Analysis Of Guilt Of A Country By Anna Quindlen
Individuality is both a blessing and a curse, it can bring people together just as easily as it can tear them apart, and sadly, the latter is a much more frequent outcome. However, it is also a beautiful trait of humanity that allows people to come together in solidarity to fight for what they believe to be right. In the article, “A Quilt of a Country” by Anna Quindlen, she uses past and present anecdotes to build credibility appeal to the audience’s emotions, and allusions of discrimination and hatred to unify the citizens of the United States in their individualities; however, it also serves as a reminder to other countries that although the citizens of the U.S. are different, they are unified. The events of the past dictate how people

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Many individuals interpret diversity differently specifically in the United States because of its melting pot of distinct cultures and lifestyles. In his essay “People Like Us”, David Brooks’ argues that although the United States is a diverse nation as a whole, it is homogeneous in specific aspects like interactions between people. To some extent, his observation is true; people tend to stick to what or who they are comfortable with. There are also exceptions where the American people attempt to establish relationships with others because of their desire to expand out of their norm. For instance, Brooks excludes the explanation of diversity integration in the United States, where instead focuses on racial integration as the definition of diversity in America. He also makes assumptions that people purposefully intend to segregate themselves and underestimates their capability of living together because of their location, political values and personal appeal.…

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    “A Quilt of a Country”, the argument presented by Anna Quindlen, she states that a quilt symbolizes America. For example, during Quindlen’s survey she found that most people think that America is a special place when she argues “One of the things that it 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 side, then on either side of the country’s Chester Avenues”(Quindlen 5). This shows that people think that America is unique. Furthermore, the evidence implies that just like a quilt we are all different and we still manage to get along and work together. In addition, after Quindlen describes the…

    • 224 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Contradictions, guilt, physical, and emotional burdens are pains that all human beings face throughout their lives. In Tim O’Brien’s novel, The Things They Carried, this is no different. This novel is a collection of the adversities he and his comrades face while fighting in the Vietnam War. This collection comes with accounts from various perspectives, but each story has argument that provides a deeper understanding of the stories. Each story in The Things They Carried centers around the exaggerated truths each story presents. "Most of the time in Vietnam, there were some things that seemed just too terrible and strange to be true and others…

    • 1235 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    German author, Eckhart Tolle, once stated,“People tend to dwell more on negative things than on good things. So the mind then becomes obsessed with negative things, with judgments, guilt and anxiety produced by thoughts about the future and so on.” Everyone experiences guilt whether a famous popstar or an average citizen. Guilt is a natural quality that comes and goes in one’s life depending on their actions. Gene Forrester, the narrator of the book A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, resembles the description Tolle describes. In the novel A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, a theme clearly exists where guilt cripples a person emotionally because of situations that happen in the book.…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Paranoia, betrayal, competition; two boys by the names Gene and Phineas fight for the number one spot in their friendship. Yet there a slight plot twist, this is all an illusion in Gene’s mind. There is not really any competition, nor any paranoia in their friendship; only in Gene’s perspective. In the intriguing novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene’s ulterior motives disrupt the healthy friendship both he and Phineas contain. This type of mind shows a difference between Gene’s and Phineas’s character. Even throughout this story, principles of contrast are shed to reveal one’s true characteristics.…

    • 800 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On the essay “People like us” David Brook’s main purpose is to discuss the increasing diversity in America. This essay is a master piece of intelligence and organized ideas. A reader can grab that in his first sentence. “We all pay lip service to the melting pot, but we really prefer the congealing pot.” The writer uses relative concept with very effective language. He uses strong diction, logical tone and complex syntax.…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Thernstrom, Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom. America in Black and White: One Nation Indivisible. (New York: Touchstone, 1997), pgs. 184-188…

    • 4130 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    America as many may know, is a country bounded by the label of “the melting pot.” This title once described the country to a T. Over time, things have changed, the overall attitude of America has shifted. Now-a-days you would only think this from an outside perspective.” In the case of the African Americans has the melting pot failed to bring a minority into the full stream of American life,” (Kennedy, 27). Kennedy believed that discrimination was one of the biggest flaws in the failure of the melting pot, and it is not only African Americans, but it is other races too. We may be called united, but are we really?…

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Therefore, with confidence, I can say that America is neither a “melting pot” nor a “mosaic.” Though many different cultures have flocked to America, America’s intolerance for diversity is obvious; someone who is culturally different will never be able to walk down an American street without stares. More appalling, however, is the fact that those who are culturally different will face job discrimination if they choose to express their identity instead of cover it. Even on my own campus, diversity is seen as unimportant, as our diversity funding is stripped from underneath us. America will never be a melting pot nor a mosaic until it can learn to accept its own diversity, allowing it to flourish instead of killing it off on its arrival. In today’s political climate, it would make me incredibly happy to see America open its arms to other cultures instead of attempting to shut them out completely. Again, it seems as if history is repeating itself as we travel down a path of a non-inclusive America, disregarding the plight of cultural minorities for the majority’s “gain,” forgetting the importance of multiculturalism and marching towards…

    • 583 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The common phrase “ignorance is bliss’, describes someone having a lack of knowledge or information. In the novel ignorance and innocence play a similar role within the characters’ lives. Not only did Gene’s sense of innocence change, but so did Phineas’. Phineas takes the concept of not accepting change to a whollevel. The change within Finny all started with him intertwined with his own disbelief of the reality of war surrounding him. He was unaware that he was drowning in ignorance and it was too late to be saved. John Knowles uses Finny to depict the image of how innocence changes throughout the novel by Gene responding to the changes in maturity.…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As tolerance in each other’s differences begins, so does our hope of progress. America being built upon the foundation of all men being created equal is often questioned for it truly is the unique diversity that impacts the country. In fact, many would agree on the “little point… [of isolating] anything… resembling nation character” as it is…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The unity of different peoples in America has never before been so absolute. World war two and the ensuing cold war are paragons of America’s complete tolerance of others in the modern age. Paine speaks confidently of how Americans overcame…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eth/125 Final Paper

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages

    As the diversity is changing daily, anxieties about where our country is headed combined with the coming demographic change may generate more division. We have all seen this done before many times as wave upon wave of new immigrants arrive. We will face brutal discrimination and hardship because the stakes are even higher than they were before. A clear vision of where we want our country to be in a few years is urgently needed.…

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Race, Class, & Gender

    • 2265 Words
    • 10 Pages

    "I am an American," says over 308,745,538 people in the United States this year ("2010 Census Data.") These people originate from everywhere; America is a "melting pot" of culture, and that can unfortunately cause social inequalities to arise through the Matrix of Domination, a theory that mirrors the intersectionality of race, class, and gender, as coauthor of Race, Class, & Gender, an Anthology Patricia Hill Collins claims (Andersen, and Collins xi-xiii.) These two terms give label to the commonplace phenomena of race, class, and gender work within a system of social relationships. The understanding of people from other cultures has grown in many ways over the history of the United States. America is starting to realize that the ethnocentric, or judging of others culture through the values of their own, is no longer an acceptable way to approach others. There is still a long way to go to more firmly develop a country with a general appreciation of diversity and inclusive thought. Knowledge is the power that will keep populations in peaceful, cultural awareness and harmonious equality.…

    • 2265 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    American Persona

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The United States of America is a land that is known for its richness in diversity and cultures. In American history the natives, settlers and immigrants have learned a lot and passed through several challenges here and there. Generalising the nation for specific characteristics may not be very simple. The reason as to why…

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays