In paragraph 3 of “A Quilt of a Country,” what does Quindlen suggest by using the words conundrum, conflict, and divide (Define the words on the handout; this will not count toward the seven sentences.) when talking about how successfully the United States lives up to its ideals? How do these words reinforce the author's tone toward her subject?

This is the part of paragraph 3 that contains the mentioned words:

This is a nation founded on a conundrum, what Mario Cuomo has characterized as  "community added to individualism." These two are our defining ideals; they are also in  constant conflict. Historians today bemoan the ascendancy of a kind of prideful apartheid  in America, saying that the clinging to ethnicity, in background and custom, has  undermined the concept of unity. These historians must have forgotten the past, or have  gilded it. The New York of my children is no more Balkanized, probably less so, than the  Philadelphia of my father, in which Jewish boys would walk several blocks out of their  way to avoid the Irish divide of Chester Avenue. (I was the product of a mixed marriage,  across barely bridgeable lines: an Italian girl, an Irish boy. How quaint it seems now, how  incendiary then.)

Answer and Explanation:

Definition of the words:

Conundrum: a difficult problem; a confusing question; a puzzle.

Conflict: a disagreement; a dispute or quarrel; an incompatibility.

Divide: when used as a noun, it refers to the hostile split between two groups.

Answer to the questions:

In this paragraph, Quindlen uses the words conundrum, conflict, and divide to refer to the history of America as one that has always been confusing and difficult. However, her purpose is to defend the idea that, though confusing and difficult, America still lives up to its ideals. She uses the extended metaphor of a quilt to explain that America is formed by all sorts of people from all over the world - just take a look at her parents. America and the quilt are both formed by patching together dissimilar parts. Even though there is a clear division, an evident difference between each part, they are kept together by a thread - or by ideals, when it comes to the country.

Therefore, using those words makes Quindlen's tone more impactful and drastic. But, again, she is using them to remind readers - and historians - that America has always been a conundrum, a messy gathering of different origins and cultures. It is not a recent phenomenon, and it is not what will truly divide the people. In times of war, in having a common enemy and shared ideals, people find their thread.

appropriate

adjective: correct or right for a particular situation or occasion

verb 1: to take and use for a purpose

verb 2: appropriate also means to steal

inappropriate

unsuitable, esp. for the particular time, place, or situation:

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)