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Anna QuindlenA Quilt of a Country
Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Index of Terms
Abet
This term means to assist or encourage, especially in the context of committing an offense. Quindlen uses it to present the two factors she feels help shape American Patriotism and National Identity: the Calvinist tendency to accept difficult challenges and a sense of fairness. By stating that these factors “abet” the American concept of unity, she underscores that unity is something Americans embrace almost despite themselves. Quindlen would certainly not suggest that national cohesion is wrong—she is arguing in favor of one form of it—but she does suggest that Americans treat it as though it were wrong, as with the “grudging fairness” they show immigrants (7). The term thus points to one of the many paradoxes of Quindlen’s essay.
Apartheid
This is a term originating from the Afrikaans language of South Africa and means “separateness.” It refers specifically to the policy of racial segregation adopted by the white supremacist South African government in 1948 and in place until the early 1990s. The term can also apply more broadly to official or unofficial situations of racial segregation within a society, usually in a spatial sense (i.e., groups not only have distinct rights and privileges, but are also prevented from cohabitating). Quindlen uses the term in a more figurative way, referring to voluntary cultural and ethnic segregation among Americans.
Balkanized
Quindlen uses this term to refer to fragmentation and segregation of US neighborhoods along ethnic or religious lines. The term was coined in the early 19th century, referring specifically to the ethnic divisions of the Balkan peninsula. It is considered a pejorative, leveled both at warring factions as well as at separatists who are viewed as impeding national unity. Quindlen employs the term to emphasize how ethnic divisions are nothing new; in her view, the United States is in fact less divided than it was before.
Mongrel
This term traditionally refers to a mixed-breed dog, or a “mutt.” It generally is pejorative, although it can have an endearing connotation when used in reference to oneself. Quindlen uses the term in both the opening and closing paragraphs, referring to the United States as a “mongrel nation.” As a metaphor for Multiculturalism in the United States, the image complements that of the quilt, implying a greater degree of cultural mixing. It also communicates a certain optimism about the future of the United States, made stronger and healthier by the coming together of its disparate parts (just as mixed-breed dogs tend to be healthier due to their diverse genetic makeup).
In both places where the phrase “mongrel nation” appears, it is accompanied by the expression “improbable idea,” also referring to the United States. This suggests that what is “improbable” about the US is not merely the fact that its multiculturalism (mostly) works, but rather that it is something to aspire to and cherish. “Mongrels” are not traditionally the most sought-after pets, but according to Quindlen, the nation’s mixed composition is indeed an ideal.
WASP
This term is an acronym that stands for “White Anglo-Saxon Protestants.” While Anglo-Saxon refers specifically to people from England, the term is sometimes used more broadly to encompass all Protestant Americans of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry. This ethnoreligious group has historically comprised the wealthy elite of American society, though its dominance has declined somewhat since the country’s founding. Quindlen uses the term “uninflected WASP suburbs” when citing literary depictions of America’s ethnically divided past (3), describing such suburbs as segregated “ghettos.”
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By Anna Quindlen
