A quilt of a
country
BY ANNA QUINDLEN
PROF. VANHORNE
Ann Quindlen

Quindlen is a graduate of Barnard College and was
elected Chair of Barnard's Board of Trustees in 2003

Over the last 30 years,
Anna Quindlen's work
has appeared in some
of America's most influential
newspapers, many of its
best-known magazines,
and on both fiction and
non-fiction bestseller lists. She is a novelist and also writes the
prestigious "Last Word" column in Newsweek magazine.

Her latest novel, Blessings, is a New York Times bestseller
and was recently made into a television movie starring
Mary Tyler Moore.
Background

Written Sep 26, 2001

Written to show us why all the different people
and cultures our needed to make our country

Happened while 9/11 happened
Summary

In a "Quilt of a Country” Anna
Quindlen explains how most people
view our country today, using a quilt
as a metaphor. All the different
backgrounds, races, and cultures
make up the patches of the whole
quilt, being America. She tells us how
immigrants today are no different
than our immigrant ancestors. They
both came to America in search of a
better life.
Relevance

It is important because it shows us that we weren't
always Americans ourselves and why we came to
America in the first place. That we should allow
other to come, too.

Its stood the test of time because its how the
country was born.
Literary devices



Simile- “That's because it was built of
bits and pieces that seem discordant,
like the crazy quilts that have been
one of its great folk-art forms, velvet
and calico and checks and
brocades.”
Metaphor- “Tolerance is a vanillapudding word.”
Alliteration- “That amid all the failures
is something spectacularly
successful.”
Discordant

Conflicting or not harmonious
Pluralist

Consisting of many ethnic and cultural groups.
Mongrel

any other animal resulting from the crossing of
different breeds or types.
Disparate

essentially different in kind; not allowing
comparison.
Ostracism

exclusion from a society or group.
Conundrum

a confusing and difficult problem or question. A
riddle or a puzzle.
Apartheid

(in South Africa) a policy or system of segregation
or discrimination on grounds of race.
Interwoven

Blended or laced together.
Diversity

Having varied social and/or ethnic background.