For this assignment, you will be writing an essay that compares two pieces of literature of your choice from this working period. In your comparison, consider the following:
Chopin âThe Stormâ and Hurston âSweatâ.
Do not palarigrim and just need two citied, one from storm and one from Sweat.
Five pages.
÷ What does a close comparison between details in the two texts reveal?
÷ A good comparison will select a focused topic and a limited range of scenes or details. Beyond that you will want to explore as many possible dimensions of your comparison as you can before coming to a decision about your thesis. Once you have assembled all the elements of your comparison, consider: which is more interesting, the similarities or the differences? Then try switching the relationship to see what happens. Often one’s first assumptions turn out to be unsatisfactory.
÷ In structuring your essay, you will also want to think about whether to use a block structure (putting all the material from one text first before turning to the other) or a point-by-point comparison. Your decision will depend on your material, but in many cases the point-by-point comparison has the advantage of requiring clear topic sentences and, if it’s done well, emphasizes a logical structure rather than an assemblage of details from two texts. Please refer to the âWriting Effective Comparative Essaysâ and âQuestions to Consider When Writing a Compare/Contrast Essayâ links for an explanation on block method (text-by-text) and point-by-point structures.
÷ Remember to think about and to inform your reader why the comparison is useful, beyond being an academic exercise.
o In other words, you will not only compare the two literary works, but also explain the significance of your comparison. A comparison intends to inform readers of something they havenât thought of before.
o You must have a purpose for your comparison. The reader of the comparison should not have to ask SO WHAT? at the end of your essay.
÷ The introduction should contain:
1) The names the items to be compared
2) The purpose of the comparison
3) What is being compared and/or contrasted
o Sample Thesis Statements:
ç Unacceptable â âI am going to compare the similarities and differences between the lms Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T., the Extrater- restrial.â
ç Acceptable â âA close examination of the way Roy Neary, the protagonist of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Elliott, the protagonist of E.T., the Extraterrestrial, react to their encounters with aliens demonstrates that director Steven Spielberg uses both films to tell similar stories about the difficulties of growing up.â
÷ As always, document your sources and give your paper a good title. Think of this essay as reflecting what you’ve achieved from your reading and writing this semester. Although your scope must remain narrow, you can draw on a wider range of materials than in previous essays to show what you’ve learned.
