Question

I have to write an essay on this, but I don't even understand it...
From the Chicago Times
"Readers will not have failed to observe the exceeding bad taste which characterized the remarks of the President ... The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat, and dish-watery utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States."
Write an essay of at least two to three paragraphs analyzing this newspaper remark from the Chicago Times. Use specific quotations from the Gettysburg Address to support or refut

Answer 1

It's probably showing the unprofessional side of The president at some event .
you should look for the whole article to get a fuller picture of what really happened and why such remarks were made by the Chicago Times .

Answer 2

The remarks were purportedly printed in the Chicago Times on some date shortly after Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address. However, I can find no modern record of this quote attributed to the Chicago Times.

That being said, it seems that it was probably from an editorial since it seems to be expressing a point of view rather than just reporting the facts. Saying that the president's remarks (remember, this is referring to the Gettysburg Address) were in "bad taste" is voicing an opinion and one that was clearly not shared by everyone. In addition the writer assumes to know that feelings "of every American," which we know is simply an untrue statement. If the quote is not from an editorial and is actually from a "legitimate" article, then it is an example of very biased news reporting.

In either case, what does this say about the newspaper? Do you think that the paper and it's writers/reports were mostly democrats or mostly republicans (there were only two parties back then and Lincoln was a republican)? Do you think there was a better way that the paper or the reporter could have expressed his opinion without sounding as opinionated? Do the remarks have any credibility? Is there anything in the except that would leader the reader with a contrary opinion to question his or her view on the subject?

Those are some things you can think bout when you are coming up with your paragraphs.