Comparison and Contrast Essay Introduction Essay Topic select two stories from below • “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman • “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin • “Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather • “Death by Landscape” by Margaret Atwood • “To Room Nineteen” by Doris Lessing • “Great Falls” by Richard Ford • “Bartleby, the Scrivener” by Herman Melville • “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver • “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway • “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner • “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” by D.H. Lawrence Comparison and Contrast Essay Topics Choose just one of the following topics: 1. Using two stories, compare and contrast the protagonists’ isolation from the world and the people around them. 2. Using two stories, compare and contrast the marital or romantic relationships presented. 3. Using two stories, compare and contrast the use of point of view. 4. Using two stories, compare and contrast the presentation of selfishness. 5. Using two stories, compare and contrast the parent/child relationship. Instructions Your essay should have three parts: an introductory paragraph, a body containing fully developed paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. Following is a general guide for what to include in each section of your essay. In your introductory paragraph: • Introduce your chosen stories (with their full titles) and their authors.
• Identify clearly your essay topic—the subject of your comparison/contrast. • Include a strong thesis statement on the comparison and contrast topic that indicates what a reader ultimately can learn from the comparison/contrast. • Forecast the categories of the comparison and contrast that your essay will analyze in detail. In your analysis in the body of your essay: • Make effective use of topic sentences to identify the categories of comparison or contrast in your analysis. • Support your comments with evidence (paraphrase and direct quotations) from your chosen stories. • Explain the significance of each piece of evidence you present as it relates to your thesis. • Contribute to your reader’ understanding of the two stories as a whole. In your concluding paragraph: • Summarize how your analysis of the categories of comparison/contrast supports your thesis. • Restate in different words the purpose of your comparison/contrast. Should use this for intext citation and work cited • Cassill, R. V., and Bausch, Richard, eds. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. 8th ed. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Co., 2015.
