English 155: Introduction to Literature

Compare/Contrast Paper (750-1000 words)

Your final paper is designed to help you see connections between the different works we've read this semester. Your assignment is to compare and contrast two works we've studied this semester. This means you must discuss both similarities AND differences between the two works. Start by finding some aspect that both works share. This could be a theme (such as love), but it might also be a technique (such as first person point of view), an image (e.g. animal imagery), a symbol, etc.  After finding a connection between the two works, then you will discuss its other similarities and differences. Please note that the two works you discuss must be from different weeks of our unit (that is, please don't compare two short stories, or two poems).

For example, you might compare the theme of ambition in two works or you might compare the theme of romantic relationships in two texts.

In other ways, the paper is similar to others you've done this semester: you should be interpreting the text (not summarizing it) and supporting it with quotations and other references to the work.

Keep in mind the following:

• Include both similarities and differences. If differences are most obvious, focus on similarities and vice versa. For example, "Although both ____ and ______ demonstrate how love has gone wrong, in _______, the problem is caused by X, whereas in _______, the problem is caused by Y.
• Be sure you are going beyond plot summaries in your comparisons. Your goal is to interpret the two works, not simply to tell us what happened. Always think "Why?" "So What?" What are the two authors suggesting about a given topic? Where do they agree and where do they disagree?
• Remember that the authors' views are not necessarily the same as the characters' views.
• Make sure the two elements (the similarities and differences) are related. For example, don't say something like, "although both works portray abused children, text #1 is written in the 1600s, while text #2 is written in the 1900s. (There is no obvious relationship between the similarities and differences.) A better strategy would be to say something like, "Although these two texts were written in dramatically different historical period, they both portray the theme of abused children. {this is the similarity} However, text A suggests that abused children have no option but to suffer the abuse, while text B argues that children have ways of fighting back. {this is the difference}

There are two ways of organizing the body of a compare/contrast paper:

Text A:

                   Point 1.

                   Point 2

                   Point 3

          Text B       

                   Point 1

                   Point 2

                   Point 3

OR

          Point 1

                   Text A

                   Text B

          Point 2

                   Text A

                   Text B

          Point 3

                   Text A

                   Text B

How would you rate the following thesis statements?

• Both The Great Gatsby and Frankenstein address the issue of socially created monsters.

(Not so good because there is a similarity but no difference.)

• Both The Great Gatsby and Frankenstein address the issue of socially created monsters, but Fitzgerald's monster is a rich man, while Shelley's monster is a scientist.

(Not so good either, because the facts about being "a rich man" and a "scientist" sound like just random facts.  How they help us to understand the texts better/)

• Both The Great Gatsby and Frankenstein address the issue of socially created monsters, but Fitzgerald's monster (Tom Buchanan) is created by excessive materialism, while Shelley's monster (Frankenstein) is created by excessive ambition.

              (This is better because the differences are related to the similarities AND they are

              interpretive statements that help us illuminate the texts-not just random facts.)

Checklist for Paper #3:  Comparison/Contrast