In your essay, include an Introduction that provides brief background on your subject not included in the articles themselves, and most importantly, a Thesis Statement. For the body paragraphs, you will provide information from the two articles (evidence in the form of direct quotes or paraphrased material) to support both the comparisons (similarities) and contrasts (differences) in the two articles on the same topic. Remember that you are educating the audience (someone who didn’t read the articles) about each aspect—compare and contrast–and you must provide all the necessary details and information so that they can fully understand. The Conclusion will restate your thesis, emphasize your main points, and tie up any loose ends that remain.
Article 1: “The Need to Read”, Will Schwalbe, page 4 in MXC ARC Reader (.pdf document in Announcements)
Article 2: ”Demanding More from College”, Frank Bruni, page 26 in MXC ARC Reader
Here’s a sample of a general outline for a compare-contrast essay (Roman numerals denote paragraphs):
Introduction (Thesis is included, which is along the lines of “I will compare and contrast two articles on the subject of learning and education.”)
II & III. Briefly describe the articles you are using to compare/contrast-provide a brief summary of each article using paraphrasing/summarizing techniques
Compare the two authors’ similar viewpoints/examples/evidence with specific examples (for example, “in paragraph 6, line 2 of his article the author Schwalbe states…”)
Contrast the two authors’ viewpoints/examples/evidence with specific examples (see IV. above)
Conclusion (Concluding sentence is included, which is along the lines of “I have compared and contrasted two articles on learning and education.”)
NOTE: All essay paragraphs should be 4-6 sentences in length, and contain substantial sentences.
Refer to the checklist below in order to help you compose your compare and contrast essay. It outlines many useful steps that should be included in your writing process. As you construct your essay, please check off and date each stage of your paper process:
__ I have used 12-pt. Times New Roman typefont with 1-inch margins/double spacing. I have also given my essay a title.
__ I have my thesis statement in the introduction paragraph. It is the last sentence of the introduction.
__ My body paragraphs have strong topic sentences which correspond to the points I identified in my thesis statement, and each topic sentence is well supported with detailed examples.
__ I have included a conclusion which restates my thesis statement and summarizes the content of my essay.
__ Each paragraph is indented, I have checked for grammatical and spelling errors by using spell-check and by proofreading by reading, and the essay is 2-3 pages in length.
__I have used the Essay Frame document uploaded on Brightspace-Assessments-Assignments to create my essay draft.
__ OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED: I have consulted with a tutor and/or instructor for either or both the draft and revised essays.
**You may seek assistance with these assignments with a Tutor at the Academic Support Center, or with me during my face to face or Zoom office hours (30 min. after every class). You do not need an appointment to see me!
Points will deducted for: missing deadlines, not following these guidelines, many (more than 2-3) errors in the entire paper concerning spelling, grammatical or punctuation, not submitting work in the proper format, not including requested corrections/revisions from the instructor in a revised essay, and so on.
