compare and contrast essay

FORMAT: Minimum 1,500 words, double-spaced, 12-point TNR, 1” margins; put your name, my name,

the class, assignment number, and date in the upper left corner of the first page; staple and number

pages; have a title. Cite sources in MLA style.

BASIC INSTRUCTIONS: Compose an essay comparing and contrasting the writing (the rhetoric) of two

authors in Chapter 13 of the Common Reader: “Nature and the Environment”.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION: A2 is not a five-paragraph essay. It is also not an argument about any

particular issue. It is an exercise in comparative rhetorical analysis.

Look for what you can see by reading these two essays together that you could not see by reading

them separately. Don’t simply make a list of similarities and differences. THAT there are many

similarities and differences between any two texts is such an obvious thing to say that it’s a useless

thing to say. Here, that’s not enough.

Do this instead. Look at HOW each author discusses and judges their subject. Spend some time

thinking about each author’s writing.

Write to a general, academically literate audience.