Comparative Essay (Extensive)

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Here are the steps:

1) Complete the readings concerning “Comparative Essay” and “Synthesis”

2) Select two works from The Norton Introduction to Literature

3) Write an essay of 750-1000 words that compares elements of the two different works.  You might consider, for example, comparing the plots of two stories, or the characters in two plays, or the symbols in two poems, etc.

(Some elements that you might consider plays: plot, structure, setting, tone, language, symbol, theme, character) (Some elements that you might consider stories: plot, setting, character, theme, symbols, narration & point of view.) (Some elements that you might consider poems: speaker, situation, setting, theme, tone, language, imagery, figures of speech, symbol, sounds, structure, form.)

Use the rubric to assist you in understanding how your work will be graded.

 

Full instructions attached.

Instructions

The final essay for the course takes a step forward in your abilities.  Thus far, you have worked with one text at a time–one poem, one short story, and one play.  Now you are tasked with addressing TWO works at the same time.  There are several ways to work with more than one work: For this assignment, you will be writing a Comparative Essay.

Here are the steps:

1) Complete the readings concerning “Comparative Essay” and “Synthesis”

2) Select two works from The Norton Introduction to Literature

3) Write an essay of 750-1000 words that compares elements of the two different works.  You might consider, for example, comparing the plots of two stories, or the characters in two plays, or the symbols in two poems, etc.

(Some elements that you might consider plays: plot, structure, setting, tone, language, symbol, theme, character) (Some elements that you might consider stories: plot, setting, character, theme, symbols, narration & point of view.) (Some elements that you might consider poems: speaker, situation, setting, theme, tone, language, imagery, figures of speech, symbol, sounds, structure, form.)

Use the rubric to assist you in understanding how your work will be graded.

Do not use any outside sources other than the short story in our textbook.

You are choosing TWO stories, TWO poems, or TWO plays and analyzing them using the elements of the genre you selected.  Whichever elements you select, you are always connecting that element to meaning.  Be aware that an essay about plot is NOT a plot summary.  Your plot summary, if you must have one, should be no longer than one short paragraph (5-6 sentences).

Be sure to use MLA documentation in the form of parenthetical citations and a works cited page (work from an anthology).

 

Plays: Henrik Ibsen “A Doll House”, Lorraine Hansberry “A Raisin in the Sun”, August Wilson “The Piano Lesson”

Stories: Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”, Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”, Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl”

Poems: (Found in doc Poetry 1) Frost “Home Burial”, Brooks “We Real Cool”, Pound “The River Merchant’s Wife”,

(Found in doc Poetry 2) Williams “The Red Wheelbarrow”, Shakespeare Sonnet 18 (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day”), Rich “Diving into the Wreck”, Poe “The Raven”, Shelley “Ode to the West Wind”, Thomas “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”