Comparative Essay (Extensive)

/in /by

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”

Explore Essay Writing

/in /by
7.1.11 Study: Explore Essay Writing: Argument
Date: ____________

Letter as Argument

This study sheet will help you to write a rough draft of the writing assignment that you will revise later on. Answer the following questions as you work through your study to build a strong and successful essay.

Your Assignment

Write a letter to Edward Abbey that explains why one of his arguments in “The Damnation of a Canyon” is unconvincing.

You will . . .

  • Use pathos, ethos, or logos to grab Abbey’s attention
  • Explain one ineffective use of rhetoric in his essay
  • Show how he can fix the problem
  • Encourage him to revise his work

Use the questions below for brainstorming and organizing your ideas.
1. Which piece of Abbey’s rhetoric will you discuss in your letter? Name just one argument or fallacy that you want to criticize and help him correct.
2. Why isn’t this part of Abbey’s essay likely to convince his audience?
3. What could he do to fix it?
4. Brainstorm how to grab Abbey’s attention at the beginning. Try to come up with at least one possibility for each logical strategy.
5. Which attention grabber would most likely make Edward Abbey stop and listen? Why?

6. Write an introduction using your best attention-grabbing opening and the claim provided on the assignment sheet.

7. Write a paragraph explaining that Abbey’s words are ineffective for reaching his audience. Be sure to quote or paraphrase one specific example from his essay as you develop your paragraph.
8. Write a paragraph developing a suggestion for improving the work. Be sure to include an example, explain how it uses rhetoric, and tell Abbey why it is a better choice.

9. Write a conclusion that restates your main idea and encourages Abbey to put your ideas to use.
10. Combine your answers from questions 6 through 9 into a complete letter. Add detail if any paragraphs seem too short and insert transitions to make your ideas flow smoothly.

“The Cask Of Amontillado” Essay Topics

/in /by

“The Cask of Amontillado” Essay Topics

Choose one of the essay options below, and write a well-organized, five paragraph essay answering the prompt. Be sure to adhere to the essay format and the essay write rules.

1. The descriptive details used in “The Cask of Amontillado” create a specific mood. Write an essay describing what that mood is, which key details create it, and in which scenes that mood is most strongly expressed.

2. Consider the many details given about Montresor: the way he is dressed, his family name, his coat of arms, and family motto. Explain what significance each of these details has to the story.

3. Montresor places a great deal of importance on “connoisseurship,” or being an expert at something. Explain how he plans his revenge on Fortunato like an expert. Support your argument by giving at least 3 examples of how he plays with Fortunato, his victim, or examples showing how much he enjoys his revenge.

4. Fortunato is dressed like a fool, and Montresor wears a “mask of black silk.” Explain why these costumes are appropriate for the roles they play in the story. Use details from the story to support your opinion.

5. Reread Montresor’s description of Fortunato toward the beginning of the story. According to Montresor, in what ways is Fortunato a “respectable” man? In what ways is he a “quack”? What kind of person do you think he is? Why? Support yourself with details from the story.

 

From “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe

Answer the following questions in complete sentences.

1. Setting: What is significant about the time the narrator has chosen for his plot? What are the practical reasons for choosing this time? What are the symbolic reasons for choosing this time?

2. Discuss (in detail) how Fortunato tests whether or not Montresor is a free mason.

3. Fortunato’s name translates to “one who is fortunate.” Why is this ironic?

 

From “A&P” by John Updike

Answer the following questions in complete sentences.

1. Updike puts together details that create a normal, ordinary grocery store — the setting is supposed to be realistic.  What details stand out to you as true to life?  What does paying close attention to the details contribute to the story?

2. Think about the character of Sammy.  What traits (good or bad) does Sammy show?  In what ways is he a “real” person?  Is he less of a hero because he wants the girls to notice him?

3. What part of the story is the exposition?  Where in the story can you find the conflict?  What is the climax of the story?

4. Why, exactly, does Sammy quit his job?

5. Does anything lead you to think Sammy will quit his job?  Is there any foreshadowing (before Sammy quits) that hints at this?

6. What do you understand from the conclusion of the story?  What does Sammy mean when he says “how hard the world was going to be . . . hereafter”?

7. Who is the narrator of this story? How might this story be different if another character narrated it? How reliable do you find this narrator? Justify your answer.

8. Why do you think the girls wear their bikinis in the store? What text evidence supports this conclusion?

9.  How does the setting contribute to this story? How might this story be different if it happened in a different time and place?

10. The narrator assigns character traits to the girls based on their appearance and body language. Compare the narrator’s description of Queenie and the tall girl. Do you think this is an accurate way to assess other people? Explain your response. How are appearances related to how people perceive each other?

The Glass Castle – Abuse Writing Assignment

/in /by

Name:

Using the provided quotes from The Glass Castle, and support from a provided article, explain how Jeannette Walls was a victim of child abuse.  Make sure your quotes properly support your argument and are integrated into your response.  Your body paragraphs should be written in ALICE format.

Thesis statement (one sentence focusing on two main points):

Body paragraph 1 (focusing on FIRST main point from thesis statement):

Body paragraph 2 (focusing on SECOND main point from thesis statement):

The Glass Castle Quotes About Abuse:

“I am your mother, and I should have a say in how you’re raised” (Walls 26).

“Mom felt that Grandma Smith nagged and badgered, setting rules and punishments for breaking the rules. It drove Mom crazy, and it was the reason she never set rules for us” (Walls 21).

“Some parents worried that their kids might get hit by lightning, but Mom and Dad never did, and they let us go out and play in the warm, driving water. We splashed and sang and danced” (Walls 16).

“If you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim” (Walls 66).

“We had no pillows, but Dad said that was part of his plan. He was teaching us to have good posture. The Indians didn’t use pillows, either, he explained, and look how straight they stood” (Walls 18).

“‘It was the only thing to eat in our house,’ I said. Raising my voice, I added, ‘I was hungry’” (Walls 69).

“You’re not supposed to laugh at your own father, ever” (Walls 83).

“He simply waited for me to fork over the cash, as if he knew I didn’t have it in me to say no” (Walls 209).

“She’d been reading books on how to cope with an alcoholic, and they said that drunks didn’t remember their rampages, so if you cleaned up after them, they’d think nothing had happened. ‘Your father needs to see the mess he’s making of our lives,’ Mom said. But when Dad got up, he’d act as if all the wreckage didn’t exist, and no one discussed it with him. The rest of us had to get used to stepping over broken furniture and shattered glass” (Walls 113).

“Unloved children grow up to be serial murderers or alcoholics” (Walls 83).

“At times I felt like I was failing Maureen, like I wasn’t keeping my promise that I’d protect her–the promise I’d made to her when I held her on the way home from the hospital after she’d been born. I couldn’t get her what she needed most–hot baths, a warm bed, steaming bowls of Cream of Wheat before school in the morning–but I tried to do little things” (Walls 206).

“‘Okay, kids’ Dad said, ‘the civilians are revolting. We better skeddadle'” (Walls 109).

“When Dad went crazy, we all had our own ways of shutting down and closing off, and that was what we did that night” (Walls 115).

“‘Your father’s the only one who can help himself,’ Mom said. ‘Only he knows how to fight his own demons'” (Walls 117).

“Just remember,” Mom said after examining the blisters, “what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.”  “If that was true, I’d be Hercules by now,” Lori said (Walls 179).

“Being homeless is an adventure” (Walls 255).

“We may not have insulation,” Mom said as we all gathered around the stove, “but we have each other” (Walls 177).

2/20/2018 Moving is tough for kids | Psychology Today

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201007/moving-is-tough-kids 1/7

Source:

The New York Times recently summarized (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/fashion/11St udiedMoving.html?_r=1) new research on how kids are affected by moving. With this long, dragged out recession, the disruptions caused by the Gulf Oil disaster, and the foreclose crisis, hundreds of thousands of kids are going to be packing boxes and finding new homes. That won’t make it any easier.

This is a touchy subject for me. I moved ten times during the first 25 years of my marriage (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/marriage). My oldest son moved five times before college (a touchy, touchy subject), and my youngest has moved three. Most professors have virtually no control over where they work – there are a limited number of jobs in very specific topics and many more well qualified PhDs than academic positions. Required moves is one of the many stresses in the lives of academics and many other professions.

And then there’s the effect on their kids.

The bad news. As the new study published in the Journal of Social and Personality (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/personality) Psychology documents, frequent moves are

Nancy Darling Ph.D. Thinking About Kids

Moving is hard on kids who leave and those who stay Posted Jul 11, 2010

Moving is tough for kids

SHARE TWEET EMAIL MORE

Find a Therapist City or Zip 

Like 49

 

 

2/20/2018 Moving is tough for kids | Psychology Today

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201007/moving-is-tough-kids 2/7

Source:

tough on kids and disrupt important friendships. These effects are most problematic for kids who are introverted (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/introversion) and those whose personalities tend toward anxiety (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/anxiety)and inflexibility. Specifically, adults who moved frequently as kids have fewer high quality relationships and tend to score lower on well- being and life satisfaction. Fortunately, the results – like all findings in psychology – are more nuanced than that. One major reason that kids are negatively affected by moves is that moves are often precipitated by problems – a divorce (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/divorce), job loss – that are tough on the family. Or the family moves because one parent’s job requires it, but this mean the other parent (usually mom) loses theirs. When parents are stressed and upset (and trust me, moving is always stressful) their parenting (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/parenting) suffers and the kids always, always always notice. Moves are also hardest on kids in the midst of other transitions – like puberty (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/adolescence) and school changes. Middle school seems to be the toughest time to make a transition.

You can help.

When parents support each other and work hard to make the move as easy for the themselves and their kids as possible, negative effects are minimized. When moving is fairly normative – as for military families – and the receiving school has many kids who move or have peer networks that are relatively open so it is easier to enter into new social circles, negative effects are minimized. Like most processes that have negative effects on social relationships, meaning (e.g., we’re making this move to keep the family

together), mutual support (I know this is hard, but we’re working to make it as easy as possible), and flexibility help both parents and kids in the adjustment.

The child left behind. Now that I think we have finally, finally, finally settled in and may yet live to remove all the moving stickers from our furniture, I am seeing this from the other side.

We have always been the ones who moved. I don’t remember my kids ever being the ones left behind. It was usually the same with me as a kid. It used to make me both sad and angry when I’d hear people

 

 

2/20/2018 Moving is tough for kids | Psychology Today

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201007/moving-is-tough-kids 3/7

in my La Leche League support group warn each other – don’t make friends with anyone from the college who isn’t tenured – they’ll just move away.

Now, being tenured, we are the ones who are staying. And my son’s best friend just moved away.

Like most major transitions (childbirth, divorce) moving is a looooong process, not one that just drops from the sky. Actually, his friend’s moving transition lasted several years, as his family was on the verge of moving at the end of each year and was only reprieved at the last minute. As the end of the contract approached each year, we anticipated the loss of his best friend for several months. Chronic stress (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/stress) differs from accute stress in that anxiety is high, but there is nothing much to DO. You know a loss may be coming. You feel upset and anxious. But you dont know if it will happen or not. My son – at 9 and then 10 and then 11 – would lose sleep (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/sleep) and feel worried, but didn’t really know what would happen. As a parent, you try to be supportive and put the best face on it, but not set children up for disappointment.

������� ��������� ����� �������������

When the move finally seemed certain, I watched my son’s attention in school hit the floor. Depression (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/depression) in childhood (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/child-development) looks somewhat different from depression in adulthood. In addition to moping, crying, and feelings of sadness, children can also become inattentive, hyperactive (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/adhd), and act out – yelling, hitting, being defiant or stubborn. They’re cranky. Fortunately, my son never hit those depths, but his sleep was spotty, his attention was poor, and he was just sad. This, of course, hit his friend as well, who was more seriously upset and, being more extroverted (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/extroversion), more prone to acting out. In dyadic relationships (friendships) when both partners are stressed, relationship quality tends to suffer. You see this in romantic partners heading off to different colleges or

Home Find a Therapist Topics Get Help Magazine Tests

 

 

2/20/2018 Moving is tough for kids | Psychology Today

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201007/moving-is-tough-kids 4/7

Source:

about to be deployed overseas. You see it in kids too. Relationship prolems don’t make the parting easier.

Plans for maintaining the relationship were positive for both kids. Technology has changed things a lot and can be used to sustain distant relationships. When I was a kid and my best friend moved, we wrote weekly letters, but never made a phone call. It was 7 cents a minute and that was a lot of money. Now the kids use the unlimited phone minutes on the cell phone to call each other. They use the internet for free video chatting. Remember the Jetson’s on tv with their video phones? That age is here and free on the computer. Just seeing each other’s faces – and the messiness of our familiar family room and his messy new bedroom – is a comfort.

And video games – which are such a social center for many kid’s lives – can be played on-line. Together. Simple games like checkers and chess or battleship are free. For younger kids, who have trouble maintaining sustained emotional conversations, this is a real blessing because you can talk around and through a game and still communicate well. You can show a Lego model or a new soccer ball without having to describe it. You can play a blast on the trumpet. You can walk around the house with a laptop and show where you’re living. Shared activities bond people together without the pressure of just talking. This can be particularly important for boys and for kids who are less verbal and more play oriented. The kids are even planning to continue their Dungeon and Dragon (https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201003/when-we-last- left-our-heroes-psychology-meets-d-d) game on-line, with three kids and the Dungeon Master here and the other joining via videoconference. I am sure the kids couldn’t all sit and just talk for two hours. I feel confident (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/confidence) that they can play a game together.

������� ��������� ����� �������������

 

 

2/20/2018 Moving is tough for kids | Psychology Today

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201007/moving-is-tough-kids 5/7

Both kids are kept busy – camp, other friends, and family activities can help ease the gap left by the loss. And all people feel most depressed when they are left alone to brood. Kids too. And although summer is wonderful, those long stretches of time can give kids a lot of time to feel alone and bored (https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201006/i-m-bored-kids-in-the-summer-part-i- screen-time-0).

How will this work out? I don’t know. But I’m sure both kids will learn from it. And I know – really, truly know – that they were both better off having had this friendship (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/friends) and having lost it through the move than they would have been if they had held off and avoided the relationship just because it was going to end.

__________________________________

Side note: Kids who are economically distressed and those at the top end of the socioeconomic spectrum are more likely to move than those in the middle.

When we were kids and moved to a new town, my parents would immediately settle themselves in – find a new church, joining organizations, and taking on leadership (https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/leadership) roles. It doesn’t take a long time to become part of an organization when you’re the head of the Sunday School or you organize a school bake sale or you volunteer at the Red Cross.

I remember my father saying that one of the reason that families moving through our community had such a hard time is that they just ‘perched’. They came to town not knowing if they’d be there for a year or three or a lifetime. Because of this, they never really committed to staying. They never made friends or set down roots. Although tearing up roots can be really painful, he felt – and I agree – that it is still better than not allowing yourself ever to be part of a community.

 

 

2/20/2018 Moving is tough for kids | Psychology Today

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201007/moving-is-tough-kids 6/7

© 2010 Nancy Darling (https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids). All Rights Reserved

About the Author

YOU ARE READING

Thinking About Kids

(https://facebook.com/di alog/share? app_id=2205800413112 84&display=page&href= https%3A//www.psychol ogytoday.com/blog/thinki ng-about- kids/201007/moving-is- tough- kids&redirect_uri=https %3A//www.psychologyto day.com/blog/thinking- about- kids/201007/moving-is- tough-kids)

SHARE

(https://twitter.com/share ? text=Moving%20is%20to ugh%20for%20kids%20 %7C%20Psychology%2 0Today&url=https%3A// www.psychologytoday.c om/blog/thinking-about- kids/201007/moving-is- tough- kids&related=PsychToda y)

TWEET

(https://www.psychologyt oday.com/printmail/4519 6? destination=node/45196 )

EMAIL

(/)

MORE

38 COMMENTS 

(/experts/nanc y-darling-phd)

Nancy Darling, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology at Oberlin College.

(/experts/nancy-darling-phd)

(htt ps: //t witt er. co m/ pt_ thi nk _ki ds)

Online: Parenting A Child In Chronic Pain: Essays from the Inside (https://www.amazon.com/PARENTING-CHILD-CHRONIC-PAIN- migraines-ebook/dp/B01HN4HDGY/ref=sr_1_6? ie=UTF8&qid=1467208257&sr=8-6&keywords=nancy%20darling#nav- subnav)

 

 

 

2/20/2018 Moving is tough for kids | Psychology Today

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201007/moving-is-tough-kids 7/7

(/blog/t hinking -about- kids/20 1712/5 -ways- foster- gratitu de-in- childre n)

5 Ways to Foster Gratitude in Children (/blog/thinking-about- kids/201712/5-ways-foster-gratitude-in-children)

Giving thanks fosters joy.

(/blog/t hinking -about- kids/20 1711/p retty- good- organi zing- system -non- linear- thinker s)

A Pretty Good Organizing System for Non-Linear Thinkers (/blog/thinking-about-kids/201711/pretty-good-organizing-system-non- linear-thinkers)

Use non-linear thinking to keep yourself organized.

(/blog/t hinking -about- kids/20 1710/a ttractin g- weird- sample s)

Attracting WEIRD Samples (/blog/thinking-about- kids/201710/attracting-weird-samples)

Attracting representative samples requires thought

See More Posts (/blog/thinking-about-kids)