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English 155: Introduction to Literature

Dr. Debra Beilke

Compare/Contrast Paper (1000-1250 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.

For example, you might compare the portrayal of marriage in two works, or the portrayal of vigilante justice. (Vigilante = someone who takes the law into his/her own hands by trying and/or punishing another person without any legal authority.)

After finding a connection between the two works, you have to INTERPRET them, showing how the interpretations are different. For example, two literary works could be about the horrors of war. One work, though, might be making the point that the war is not worth the horror, while the other might be arguing that the end result of war justifies all the horror.

To do well on this paper, it is essential to be able to figure out what the author is trying to get across in his or her work; in other words, what is the point or main idea. This is very different from just explaining what happens to the different characters or summarizing the plot.

When you are interpreting the overall point of a work, keep in mind that what a character does is not necessarily the same as what an author believes. This is quite clear in something like Othello. Othello believes he is doing the right thing by killing Desdemona, but Shakespeare clearly does not think so. However, sometimes the difference between author and character is less clear. Davy of Peace Like a River certainly believed he was doing the right thing by killing the boys. That does not necessarily mean that Leif Enger thought it was the right thing. Trying to determine what Enger thinks is where you need to use your skills of interpretation.

Keep in mind the following:

· Originality does count. A paper which argues an idea that we have not talked about in class will receive a higher grade than one which argues something we have discussed in detail.

· As with all of our papers, the goal is to interpret the works, not summarize them. How do you know the difference? If you find yourself writing things that are “facts” of the work, then you are not interpreting. If no reasonable person who has read the work could disagree with what you are writing, then it is not an interpretation.

For example, consider this thesis: “Both Othello and Davy kill people in acts of vigilante justice. Both believed they were doing the right thing at the time of the killing. However, Davy never changed his mind, whereas Othello ultimately realized he had done something horrible.”

This is NOT an effective thesis because it is simply stating the facts.

· As with all literary papers, you have to follow up your points with quotations from the works to support your ideas. You should have at least one quotation per supporting paragraph.

· 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.

· 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. However, Shelley suggests that monsters are created by excessive ambition, whereas Fitzgerald suggests that monsters are created by excessive materialism.

(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.)

Samples

Fulfillment or Failure?

Marriage in A Secret Sorrow and “A Sorrowful Woman”

In both the excerpt from Karen Van Der Zee’s novel A Secret Sorrow and in Gail Godwin’s short story “A Sorrowful Woman,” the plots center around ideas of marriage and family. However, marriage and family are presented in very different lights in the two stories. Karen Van Der Zee presents marriage with children as perfect and totally fulfilling; it is what Faye, the protagonist of A Secret Sorrow, wants and what is necessary for her happiness. For Godwin’s unnamed protagonist marriage and family are almost the antithesis of happiness; her home life seems to suffocate her and eventually leads to her death. A Secret Sorrow directly endorses and encourages marriage, whereas “A Sorrowful Woman” indirectly questions and discourages it.

Both of the female protagonists in the two stories experience a crisis. In A Secret Sorrow Faye’s crisis comes before the marriage. She is distraught and upset because she cannot have children and fears that this will prevent her from marrying the man she loves. Both she and her beloved, Kai, desire marriage with children, and Van Der Zee suggests that only with these things will they truly be happy. Faye feels that her inability to have children is a fatal flaw that cuts her off from Kai’s love: “Every time we see some pregnant woman, every time we’re with somebody else’s children I’ll feel I’ve failed you!” (30). Faye’s anxiety and fear are based on the thought of losing her man and never having children. In “A Sorrowful Woman,” however, the crisis comes after the marriage, when the woman has already secured her husband and child. Unlike Faye, who would be ecstatic in this woman’s situation, the protagonist of Godwin’s story is not. Inexplicably, her husband and son bring her such sorry that eventually she is unable to see them at all, communicating only through notes stuck under her bedroom door. Godwin’s character has a loving husband and child, yet she is still filled with grief. This sense of defeat would be unimaginable in a Harlequin romance because it goes against one of the most popular formulas of romance writing: the plot always ends with a wedding, with the assumption that the rest is happily ever after.

(Excerpt from a sample student paper taken from The Bedford Introduction to Literature, Fifth Edition, ed. Michael Meyer. Page 55)

Trying Out Some Ideas

Similarity: Davy in Peace Like a River and Othello in Othello both kill people in acts of vigilante justice that they believed were well warranted. Davy wanted to keep Tommy and Isaac from hurting his family, and Othello wanted to stop the emotional pain Desdemona was causing him and to keep her from harming other men.

· Note: I have to make sure that whatever difference I come up with is not just a summary of what happens in the two works, which are obviously very different. I also have to make sure that the difference I discuss is related to the similarity of vigilante justice. I can’t go off on another topic.

Some Possible Thesis Statements:

· Both Othello and Davy kill other people to keep them from harming others. In Shakespeare’s play, however, the murder was the result of a mind poisoned by jealousy, whereas in Enger’s novel, the murder was the result of a mind overly influenced by Western books and movies.

· Davy in Peace Like a River and Othello in Othello both kill people in acts of vigilante justice that they believed were well warranted. Davy wanted to keep Tommy and Isaac from hurting his family, and Othello wanted to stop the emotional pain Desdemona was causing him and to keep her from harming other men. The difference is that Enger’s novel suggests that Davy’s vigilante killing was justified because protecting one’s family is more important than anything else, even the law. Shakespeare, on the other hand, shows that vigilante justice is not only a mistake, but a sign of an uncivilized, “Turkish” mind.

· On the surface, Othello and Davy commit murder for very different reasons. Davy kills to avenge and protect his family, whereas Othello kills out of jealousy. Beneath the surface, however, they both killed for the same reason: to stop the turmoil in their minds.