English 101: Compare and Contrast Essay. Questions are taken or
adapted from The Informed Argument and
World of Ideas. Address the question(s) in bold in your thesis.
Draft
One Due: Wednesday Jul. 28, Draft 2 (with all drafts attached) Due Thursday, July 29.
Bring three copies the day draft one is due.
1.
MLK and Machiavelli.
MLK says, “I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means
we use must be as pure as the ends we seek.” What does he mean by this? Define the ends he seeks and the means he
approves. Do you agree with him on this point? Contrast MLK’s views with
Machiavelli’s views. Which seem the more reasonable, under what circumstances,
and why?
2.
Marx and Hitler. Hitler proposes some interesting ideas for
forming a strong national identity and gaining greater “justice” for post World
War I Germany through his “Purpose of Propaganda” (which eventually resulted in
the murder of over six million Jews and over eleven million people in all), and
Marx asserts some ideas that governing bodies have used to wage terrible
revolutions against peoples around the world in the name of “equality” (resulting
in roughly 100 million deaths worldwide under such such governments in Cambodia
with the Khmer Rouge, Vietnam, Stalin and Mao Zedong’s People’s Democracies,
etc). Why are both ultimately doomed to
failure, or are they? Explain with examples from the texts read in class to
support your view.
3. Wollstencraft
and MLK. These
writers draw into the light some mistakes in the thinking of individuals in
society which allow a large segment of the population to be terrorized. Compare
and contrast how these writers’ arguments align with one another. Whose responsibility is it to fight for justice in society, according to these two thinkers? Whose philosophy seems the more valiant, and why? (Be sure to include a brief
(1-2 sentence) summary of each of their writings, and base your analysis on the
writings from the Informed Argument readings only.)
4. Hitler
and Machiavelli:
Both men advocate protecting one’s national power through both manipulation of
his own subjects/citizens and being suspicious of rival outside forces. To what extent is nationalism and manipulation of political opinion (either of one's citizens or international image) noble and/or necessary for political leaders? Explore
where these writers agree, disagree, and/or are right or wrong, and why those
commonalities or divergences are noteworthy.
* If there is a topic you would like to explore
other than those above, you need to see me for clearance and discussion
beforehand.
Length:
Minimum of four (full) and a maximum of six
pages typed, double-spaced. MLA format.
Usual specifications. Use Hacker manual for guidance.
Title:
don’t neglect giving your paper an original title which both touches on the
topic and tone of your essay.
Proofread:
for transitions, clear topic sentences, a clear thesis which is adequately
proven throughout the essay, proper citation, spelling grammar and syntactical
mistakes, and clarity.
Introductions:
Remember to start with a clincher (definition, question, anecdote), summarize
each text in a sentence or two, state your thesis. Thesis needs to be
underlined, take an arguable stand, and imply or explicitly state the means by
which it shall be proven.
Body paragraphs:
Compare and contrast essays are a lot like different types of braids for the
hair: there are about one hundred fifty-five ways to successfully carry them
out and or organize them. However, they are the toughest to prewrite, in part
because they require unhurried analysis and cross-analysis. I encourage you to
take advantage of either a tutor in the Writing Center
or myself to help you brainstorm and organize your ideas. One way or another, you must present two
qualities which the pieces share, and two which contrast each other. Introduce
individual qualities on their own, analyze them, then compare the similar
traits. That is, once the qualities have been analyzed individually, analyze
the significance of their identified commonalities. Repeat the process for
differences. Minimum body paragraphs: four (but five or six would probably
better suffice; it all depends on the depth and detail of body paragraphs.
Don’t think in terms of paragraphs.)
Conclusion:
As usual, cinch down major ideas and conclusions presented in body paragraphs,
remind the reader of the original goal/thesis of your essay. Reflect inwardly
on your own findings, externally regarding other facets of life impacted by
these ideas, or both.
Refer to Little, Brown Essentials for proper MLA—parenthetical
citations, etc.
Remember those of you who bought English
Simplified in the last year have access to submitting your papers for feedback through the My Writing
Lab website! Take advantage! You paid for it! (Leave at least three days for
return of your essays.) (If you bought ES before a year ago, then you can update your "subscription" for another year for $10.00.)
