This question is about "A Quilt of a Country", by Anna Quindlen.
Answer:
1. Quindlen uses his own experience and the experience lived by the people around him, to prove scientifically justified facts, in the construction of his argument.
2. This supporting evidence is fully effective within the essay she created. This is because it makes the text more accessible and more understandable to any reader.
Explanation:
As stated in the question above, Quindlen makes extensive use of anecdotal evidence to support scientific evidence within his text. This is done through Quindlen's own observation of the real world in which he lives and the community he is inserted in, as well as the vision of other people. This shows that scientific and academic evidence about the American population can be proven in real life and without much effort. An example of this can be seen through the paragraph: "The reality is often quite different, a great national striving consisting frequently of failure. Many of the oft-told stories of the most pluralistic nation on earth are stories not of tolerance, but of bigotry. Slavery and sweatshops, the burning of crosses and the ostracism of the other. Children learn in social-studies class and in the news of the lynching of blacks, the denial of rights to women, the murder of gay men. It is difficult to know how to convince them that this amounts to "crown thy good with brotherhood," that amid all the failures is something spectacularly successful. Perhaps they understand it at this moment [in the aftermath of 9/11], when enormous tragedy, as it so often does, demands a time of reflection on enormous blessings"
In doing so, Quindle makes the essay accessible, understandable to any reader, because it creates an identifiable language and that any reader will be able to apply to their own reality and community, proving that the facts are real and making the argument efficient.
