Assignment: Write a short essay that offers a comparative analysis of two of the authors we’ve read (or watched) this semester. Use any TWO of the following texts:
- Moore, Bowling for Columbine
- Turner, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”
- Lipset, “Still the Exceptional Nation?”
- Tocqueville, Democracy in America
[NOTE: If you use Tocqueville, I suggest you focus on EITHER the arguments he makes in Chapter XVII on manners and customs, OR the arguments he makes in Chapter XVIII on race.]
Your essay should be 4-5 pages, double-spaced, and typed with 1” margins. You should use appropriate citations from the texts (we will discuss citation formats in class).
Objectives: The goal of this essay is to help you make the transition from a critical response of one text (the first essay assignment) to a comparative analysis of two different texts. Once again, you will need to offer a thesis statement and supporting textual evidence, and you will need to employ critical reading skills (to provide a close and detailed reading of the texts) and critical thinking skills (to formulate a response to the texts). For this assignment, however, you will not only analyze each text individually, but in relation to each other.
I suggest that you follow these steps in completing the assignment:
1. Review the first text (or your notes on it) to understand its central argument and the points it uses to support its thesis.
2. Review the second text (or your notes on it) to understand its central argument and the points it uses to support its thesis.
3. Once you have a clear understanding of each text, move towards a comparison of the readings. What common ideas/topics do they address? What similarities or differences are there in their approach to these common ideas/topics? Where are their major points of agreement? Where are their major points of difference? Write down preliminary answers to these questions.
4. Move from these general questions towards one statement that summarizes how these separate readings relate to each other. This statement (your preliminary thesis) will provide the foundation upon which your discussion will be built.
5. Once you’ve identified a preliminary thesis statement, prepare a tentative outline that organizes each of the points you will use to support your thesis according to one of the structural models discussed above. This outline should identify what textual evidence you plan to use in support of your ideas. There are generally two recommended ways to organize comparison essays:
- Identify the specific points that will support your thesis and discuss the relevant section of each reading that pertains to this supporting point. Thus a full discussion of supporting point number one would include a detailed analysis of each reading as it relates to this point. This would be followed by a full discussion of supporting point number two, number three, etc. In this model, each reading is discussed at multiple points throughout the paper.
- Each reading is discussed separately and fully as it relates to the topic. This format can be problematic in that it limits the amount of direct interaction between the separate readings. Students need to be careful to employ a comparative approach even as they discuss each essay separately.
6. Once you have an outline, you are ready to start writing your first draft. Write the draft based on the outline, but do NOT feel that you have to slavishly follow it. If, while writing the essay, you discover alternative points or different ways of structuring your argument, modify the outline to match.
Deadlines: I will ask you to first draft a one-sentence thesis statement. This statement should clearly identify the texts you will use for the paper, and how you are going to compare the two. TWO COPIES of this statement are due in class on Monday, October 22. If, due to an emergency, you cannot come to class on Monday, make arrangements with me to deliver the thesis by Monday morning through alternative means. We will give each other feedback on our thesis statements in class, and I will return additional feedback on Wednesday (10/24).
Your first draft of the essay is due in class on Monday, October 29. Again, if you cannot make it to class, you need to make alternate arrangements with me. You MUST attach the thesis statement page I returned to you the previous Wednesday. I will provide comments on the drafts and return to you the following Monday (11/5).
Your final draft is due on Monday, November 12, at the beginning of class. You should attach your first draft, because I will want to see how much you have revised the essay since your draft. You can attach either a clean copy of your first draft or, preferably, an edited copy with notations (yours and/or mine).
Just to be clear, these again are the deadlines:
Monday, October 22:
One-Sentence Thesis Due (2 copies)
Monday, October 29:
First Draft Due (w/ thesis attached)
Monday, November 12:
Final Draft Due (w/ 1st draft attached)
Grading: Grading will be based on the criteria provided in your syllabus. However, FIVE additional considerations will also be factored into your grade:
- If you do not bring two copies of the thesis statement to class on October 22, I will deduct a full letter grade from your grade for the assignment.
- If you do not submit your first draft in class on Monday October 29, I will deduct a full letter grade from your grade for the assignment.
- If you hand in your essay late, without a valid and documented excuse, I will deduct a full letter grade from your grade for the assignment.
- If you do not attach your thesis statement to the first draft, or the first draft to the final draft, I will deduct a third of a letter grade from your grade for the assignment for each offense.
- In general, you should revise extensively between the first draft and final draft. A lack of revision will be reflected negatively in the final grade.
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