20 -- Write a one-page reflection

Last day of class 

Due: Compare and Contrast Essay

In-class -- Write a one- to two-page reflection that answers the following questions. You may number your answers to match the numbered questions below. Each response should be a minimum of three complete sentences. More if you like.  

1. What was your best piece of writing that you did for English class this year? Why do you think it was your best?
2. What was your favorite part of our class? Why?
3. Of the essays you read in class, which was your favorite? Why?
4. What person at Thames has made the biggest impact on your life this year? Why?
5. Knowing what you know now, if you could write a letter to yourself that would travel back in time so that you would receive it at the start of the school year, what advice would you give your younger self?
6. What are six adjectives that best describe this school year?

When you are finished, e-mail me your self-reflection.

Final: Monday, April 6, at noon I will give you your English final. It will be due to me by noon on Tuesday, April 7.  Please reread this and write it down so you are clear on the instructions. I am giving you 24 hours to complete your English final.

Best,

Kirsten

19 -- March 31 -- Women and Men

Good morning, everyone! This is the second-to-last day of class.
Hope you are all doing well. By now you should have a solid
rough draft of your compare and contrast essay. This essay is due
by Friday. If you finish it before Friday, feel free to turn it in. Just
make sure that you make it clear you are turning in your "final" draft.

Journal: Do you think children are born smart or do they get smart
by studying hard in school? Explain your answer.

Read: "The Trouble with Talent: Are We Born With Talent or Do
We Get Smart?" This is obviously a compare and contrast essay.
Observe the comparison as you read. This is also the longest essay
you have read this semester so allow time to read it and to
complete the ARO. The Trouble ...

Complete ARO: The Trouble with Talent Remember to copy the
ARO and then write on it!

18 -- Peer Review

Due by today: 

Venn Diagram for Compare and Contrast Essay
Outline for Compare and Contrast Essay
Rough Draft for Compare and Contrast Essay

You will be graded on all three submissions.  

Continue to e-mail me if you need anything. I am trying my best to get back to everyone!!!

If you have reached out to me multiple times, maybe try to get a hold of Ron.

Best,
Kirsten

17 -- March 24 -- Venn Diagram and "Women and Men"

Journal: Do you think men have it easier than women? Or do women have it easier than men? What makes you think so? If you could choose your gender, which would you be -- male or female? Explain the reasons for your choice.

Draw a Venn Diagram for your compare and contrast essay, and send it to me. You can take a picture of it and email it to me.

Refresher of what a Venn Diagram looks like:

Sample Venn Diagram

Read: “Women and Men”

"Women and Men"

Complete ARO

"Women and Men" ARO

Due: Outline for Compare and Contrast

Due: ARO for “Neat People vs Sloppy”

16 - Assign Compare and Contrast Essay

Journal: Are you a neat or sloppy person? Describe how you fit into the category that you chose. Make a list of some advantages of being neat; then make a list of some disadvantages of being sloppy. How would you describe a neat person? How would you describe a sloppy person?

Read: "Neat People vs Sloppy People"
Neat People vs Nasty People

Complete: ARO
ARO for "Neat People vs Nasty People"

The next link is for your last essay assignment -- 
Compare and Contrast
Read the assignment
Compare and Contrast Essay Assignment

Choose a topic and e-mail me your topic for approval!


Begin to research your topic for compare and contrast

Click below to find the two formats (outlines) for compare and contrast essays.  This document has two pages with one format on each page.
Outline format for Point-by-Point and Block Essays

15 -- Back to the Lake Chapter 10 -- Compare and Contrast

Good morning, everyone!  Today begins distance learning for EL199A.  I am going to try to make this as simple and user friendly as possible.  We will get through the upcoming weeks together. 

Journal: Compare or contrast what life was like for you before the Coronavirus to what it is like now. You can make lists of similarities and differences, or you can write two paragraphs.

Read (if you haven't already done so) Back to the Lake Chapter 10 "Comparison and Contrast"
Complete Now: Compare and Contrast ARO below and email to me at holmstedt_k@mitchell.edu by the end of today. Otherwise it will be marked late. 
Be sure to make a copy of the ARO before you start typing. 
ARO for Chapter 10 in Back to the Lake

Read: "Two Views of the Mississippi" by Mark Twain
Click on the link to read the story.
"Two View of the Mississippi  
In this story, Twain compares how he viewed the river when he was younger and then when he was older.  He contrasts his young/old views in paragraphs 2 and 3. 

Write: Due: Friday, March 20 -- People of different ages sometimes see things differently. Write (one page) about ONE attitude (toward school/education, technology, television, video games, work, religion, sports, the law, and so forth) that you think is different for people who are older (parents' age). If you can, talk to one or two of your peers as well as your parents to see if your understanding of the difference is accurate. Write one page using the block compare-contrast format. In other words, put your (and your peers) description of your attitude in the first paragraph and the adults' attitudes of the same thing in the second paragraph.

Say your block compare and contrast is about technology. In the block method, describe your opinions about technology. In the second body paragraph, describe your parents' opinion. Should have an introduction and conclusion as well. 

14 -- Persuasive Essay Due and Start Compare and Contrast

Collect Persuasive Essays

Turn and talk: What is a compare and contrast essay? What does it mean to compare? To contrast? How do we do it (compare and contrast) in life? Be prepared to give examples ...

Journal: What does your morning routine look like? Start with waking up, .... Share and compare and contrast with the person next to you.

Introduce Compare and Contrast (final essay)

A compare-and-contrast essay analyzes two subjects by either comparing them, contrasting them, or both. The purpose of writing a comparison or contrast essay is not to state the obvious but rather to illuminate subtle differences or unexpected similarities between two subjects. 

What's the difference? this question gets to the heart of comparison and contrast, and it is a question that can fit into any context. In day-to-day life, it implies the process behind most decisions: "What shall I wear?" "Which movie will I see?" "Should I change jobs?" All these questions involve choices that draw on comparison and contrast. Like narrative and persuasive essays, comparison and contrast forces you to observe, but here you are looking for similarities and differences. 


Whether you stress differences or similarities, you need to be sure that the comparison is fair. Deciding where to go out to dinner often depends on how much you are willing to spend, so comparing a fast-food place to an elegant French restaurant doesn't have much of a point unless you want to treat the comparison humorously. If neither is worth the money, however, you've established a similarity that gives you a serious assertion to work with. 

How can you shape comparison and contrast for your readers?
Often you may want only to inform your reader; that gives you at least three possible theses:

x is better or worse than y.
x has a lot in common with y, though not obviously so.
x is quite different from y, though superficially similar. 

Comparison can be used to persuade and to entertain your readers. A seemingly simple job such as washing the dog can be as much of a challenge as performing major surgery. As least at hospitals, you don't have to catch the patient first.

How can you use analogy? An analogy is an extended metaphor or simile in which a primary term is equated with another quite dissimilar term. An analogy can emphasize a point or illuminate an idea. https://literarydevices.net/extended-metaphor/

How can you structure your essay? Comparison and contrast essays group information so that the comparison is made by blocks or point by point or by a combination of the two. If you were to write an essay explaining the differences between an American feast, such as Thanksgiving, and a Chinese one, here is what the two major types of organization look like in outline form:

Type          Structure                           Content
Block         Paragraph 1                         Introduction
                  Block A, paragraphs 2-4     American culture
                       Point 1                                 Preparation
                       Point 2                                 Courses/types of food
                       Point 3                                 Manners
                  Block B, paragraphs 5-7      Chinese culture
                       Point 1                                  Preparation
                       Point 2                                  Courses/types of food
                       Point 3                                  Manners
                 Paragraph 8                            Conclusion

Point by 
Point         Paragraph 1                            Introduction
                  Point 1, paragraph 2              Preparation
                                                                      Chinese 
                                                                      American
                  Point 2, paragraph 3              Courses/types of food
                                                                       Chinese
                                                                       American

And so on. As you can see, sticking rigorously to one type of organization can become boring or predictable, so writers often mix the two. 

* Examples of block structure and point by point

Basic Essay Structure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P4fzbzwwAg

Pointers for Using Comparison and Contrast

Exploring the Topic

1. What are the similarities? What characteristics do your two subjects share? Are the two so similar that you have little to distinguish them? If so, try another subject; if not, pare down your list of similarities to the most important ones.

2. What are the differences? In what ways are your two subjects different? Are they so different that they have little in common? If so, make sure you can handle a humorous tone or try another subject; if not, pare down your list of differences to the most important ones.

3. Should you emphasize similarities or differences? Which pattern of organization best fits your material? Block? Point by point? A combination of the two?

4. What examples work best? If your reader isn't familiar with your topic, what examples might be familiar? What examples will make clear what may be unfamiliar?

5. What metaphor does your subject suggest? Given the metaphor and your subject, what characteristics match? How can the metaphor be extended into an analogy? How can you outline the analogy as an equation? What equals what?

6. What other modes are appropriate? What modes can you draw on to help support your comparison and the organization of the essay? Do you need to define? Where can you use description? Narration? Example? 

7. What is your point? Your purpose? Do you want to entertain, inform, persuade? Given your point as a tentative thesis, should you spell it out in the essay or imply it? If you are writing to inform, what information do you want to present? If you are writing to persuade, what do you want your reader to believe or do?

8. What persona do you want to create? Is it best for you to be part of the comparison and contrast or to be an observer? Do you have a strongly held conviction about your subject? Do you want it to show? Does your persona fit your audience, purpose, and material?

Discovering similarities and differences 

Making a Venn diagram or a chart can help you quickly and efficiently compare and contrast two or more things or ideas. To make a Venn diagram, simply draw some overlapping circles, one circle for each item you're considering. In the central area where they overlap, list the traits the two items have in common.  Assign each one of the areas that doesn't overlap; in those areas, you can list the traits that make the things different. Here is a very simple example, using two pizza places:

Make your own Venn diagram comparing or contrasting two things. https://www.thoughtco.com/creating-a-venn-diagram-1857015

Homework: Read Back to the Lake  Chapter 10 Comparison and Contrast, pages 335-347.  

In Friday's class: Be prepared to complete an Active Reading Outline (ARO) for Chapter 10. We will read the essay, "Singing Like Yma Sumac." I will provide handouts of this essay in class. I will also distribute the compare and contrast essay assignment.