Compare/Contrast Essay #1 - The Two Ladies and their Pet Dogs
- Due No Due Date
- Points 50
- Submitting a website url
We write for at least one of the following 5 reasons:
To inform • To entertain • To question • To argue • To elicit or call forth an emotional response
To such ends, we use a variety of rhetorical strategies to include how best to communicate ideas to an audience depending on purpose (e.g. why is the writer writing? who is the writer writing/speaking to?). In the compare/contrast essay, we use an obvious rhetorical strategy: comparisons/contrasts (i.e. we compare and contrast features of two or more texts). Other rhetorical strategies include an examination and analysis of: cause/effect, classification/division, definition, description, exemplification, narration, and process/analysis. Today, we're concerning ourselves with the comparisons/contrasts strategy.
comparisons/contrasts: tone/diction, figurative language, parallelism, setting, narrative details, etc.
Compare and contrast essays are popular in academic writing, and they are frequently assigned for essay #1 and/or #2 on the AP Lit exam. Such essays answer a specific question (such as, "Compare and contrast two Victorian poets and their poems") in great detail. The most important thing to remember for this kind of analysis is structure. Many wonderful essays fall victim to disorganization, digression, or lack of consistency, making any ingenuity fall by the wayside.
Go over these steps, and then structure your compare/contrast essay in one of the following two formats:
TYPE 1
TYPE 1
- Introduction: Your introduction should open with a hook, and lead into the thesis statement by the end of the paragraph.
- Topic 1: This next portion of your essay (which may consist of one paragraph or several) should cover only the first topic (or text) of the comparison and contrast. Compare/contrast essays take two topics and illustrate how they are similar and dissimilar. Do not mention Topic 2 in this first portion. Use an effective transition between Topics 1 & 2.
- Topic 2: This next portion of your essay (which may also consist of one or more paragraphs) should cover the second of the two topics (or texts). Do not discuss Topic 1 in this section. Since you have already gone into great detail about it, you may allude to Topic 1 briefly; however, do not analyze Topic 1 in this section. This portion of the paper should discuss Topic 2 in great detail.
- Topics 1 & 2 Together. Now that you have analyzed both Topic 1 and Topic 2 independently, analyze them together. This section may also be one or several paragraphs (e.g. with one paragraph devoted to each point of comparison or contrast). Your goal here is to make a point about the significance of similarities and differences in the topics. Dig deep here and analyze carefully.
- Conclusion. The conclusion should include a generalization or restatement of the thesis. Express your certainty and absolute knowledge of the subject matter. Show how you've proven your thesis. Leave the reader with something significant or interesting to ponder. Answer the question: so what?
TYPE 2 (as above, but with a different organizing tactic)
- Introduction
- All Comparisons (Topics 1 and 2). This section should consists of several paragraphs and should go through all similarities you find in the two topics (or texts) on which you are writing. For this assignment, you should make at least two significant comparisons (i.e. in essentially two body paragraphs), each backed by appropriate, properly-cited evidence and your own careful analysis.
- All Contrasts (Topics 1 and 2). This section, which should consist of several paragraphs, should go through all differences you find in the two topics (or texts) on which you are writing. For this assignment, you should contrast at least two significant aspects of the topic (i.e. in essentially two body paragraphs), each backed by appropriate, properly-cited evidence and your own careful analysis.
- Conclusion. Wrap up your analysis. Restate the thesis in a new way. Answer the question: so what?
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Your Prompt In at least 6 well-developed paragraphs, compare and contrast the following short stories: The Lady with the Pet Dog (1972) by Joyce Carol Oates, and The Lady with the Pet Dog (1899) by Anton Chekhov. In your essay, focus your analysis on key stylistic similarities and differences between the two pieces, as well as the overall effects of such details. Remember to give ample attention to the question, "so what?" IMPORTANT NOTICE: Unless otherwise stated, each essay in this class is expected to be typed in a Google Doc in perfect MLA format; be sure to submit all essays on time via a website URL (i.e. link) with "Can comment" privileges (otherwise, you can expect to receive no more than 50% credit for your submission, as it will be counted as late). |
Rubric
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Claim
The text introduces a clear, arguable claim that can be supported by reasons and evidence.
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Development
The text provides sufficient data and evidence to back up the claim as well as a conclusion that supports the argument.
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Audience
The text anticipates the audience’s knowledge level and concerns about the claim. The text addresses the specific audience’s needs.
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Cohesion
The text uses words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, creates cohesion, and clarifies the relationships between the claim and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claims and counterclaims.
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Style and Conventions
The text presents a formal, objective tone that demonstrates standard English conventions of usage and mechanics along with discipline specific requirements (i.e. MLA, APA, etc.).
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Total Points:
50
out of 50
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