Question

Using Lincoln’s “A House Divided” speech, Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!” poem, and Jane Addams’s “Influence of Lincoln” memoir chapter, you are going to write an expository essay of at least 750 words to answer the question: “What American ideal(s) does Abraham Lincoln embody?” To get started, think about our discussion of Lincoln’s speech and reread “O Captain! My Captain!” and “Influence of Lincoln.” Identify the American ideals and Lincoln’s embodiment of them.

Doesnt have to be 750 words but that answers the question in a good couple of paragraphs would be great!!

Answer 1

"A House divided against itself cannot stand"

America should be united, as one, to be able to grow and prosper, to be able to be the dreamland we all want. Unity is the first necessary value from the speech.

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won.

He did it, he managed to unite the States, he managed to put them all together towards an ideal, but the hate of a few, and the fear of change of others assured a fateful ending for Lincoln.

"he wished to bear testimony that he personally had known but this one man who had never been offered a bribe because bad men were instinctively afraid of him "

Integrity, Lincoln, had integrity, as told by it´s contemporaries.

Unity, integrity and modesty are the american values that Lincoln reflected.

hope it helps:)

Answer 2

According to the texts presented as a reference in the question above, we can say that Lincoln mocked many American ideals, since he always showed himself as an integral man, both in politics and in his personal life. In addition, Lincoln believed that the country should act as a single body, where all citizens should unite for the well-being of the people and the nation.

In her work, Jane Addams evidences Lincoln's honesty and his incorruptibility, always acting in the right way, without the influence of sub-powers or abuses of powers.

In “O Captain! My Captain! ” we can see how difficult it was to lose the great leader that was Lincoln, since the poem shows the melancholy of losing a appreciated figure and the uncertainty of having a leader who could be so integral, rational, honest and correct.