Description
The two stories I picked are “Taking my parents to college by Jennine capo crucet”
and
“The joy of reading and writing:Superman and me by Sherman Alexie”
Assignment: For this formal essay, your assignment is to compose an essay that compares and/or contrasts themes and elements of two essays of your choosing from the Week 6 Readings (1-7 in the second half of the readings assignment).
Comparing and contrasting requires going well beyond the superficial ways that the essays are “both the same and different.” Instead of focusing on what is different about the essays, you will focus your comparisons on how and why the essays are different.
Throughout your prewriting, you will identify elements of the two essays you find enlightening, and you will identify ways that those essays intersect in terms of their themes and arguments and/or the way they present those themes and arguments.
As you move from prewriting to drafting the first (“shitty”) draft of your essay, you will begin to construct a thesis statement. The thesis statement is your main argument about the point of comparison and/or contrast that you will be exploring throughout your essay. You will then spend your essay presenting reasons and evidence to support your comparisons.
The evidence you provide in support for your thesis will be comprised primarily of material from the two essays you will be comparing. So, part of your job will be to integrate sources effectively by providing context and explanations for your source material.
All of the bolded terms will be defined and discussed over the course of the prewriting and drafting process, so you will have a clear understanding of these terms by the time you enter into the revision process.
Minimum Requirements
A clear thesis and purpose. Organize your paper around a concise thesis statement.
An introduction that introduces the two essays you’ll be comparing and provides the context and focus of your essay.
Reasons and evidence to support your comparison.
Use of source material to fully explain your supporting evidence.
Topic sentences that help organize and focus body paragraphs.
A strong concluding paragraph that sums up the essay without being repetitive.
A descriptive and appropriate title (titles like “Paper #2” and “Compare/Contrast
Essay” are neither descriptive nor appropriate).
Your paper must use MLA formatting, including a 4-line header.
MLA documented sources: in-text citations and a Works Cited page.
Proofread carefully before you submit your assignment. Your paper should be written in standard, edited American English.
Required Length: 850-1000 words typed, double-spaced (not including the “Works Cited” pages), in a standard, 12-point font.
Participate in all stages of the writing process and the assignments related to the paper project.
