comparative essay tips (1 Viewer)

[popsmokeswife]

does anyone have any like tips maybe like "dos and donts" when writing comparative essays? Maybe also like a general structure?

thank you

 

[synthesisFR]

first figure out if u prefer writing a normal essay e.g. one para per text or if u prefer writing integrated paragraphs

 

[Chris@SummitTutoring]

does anyone have any like tips maybe like "dos and donts" when writing comparative essays? Maybe also like a general structure?

thank you

does anyone have any like tips maybe like "dos and donts" when writing comparative essays? Maybe also like a general structure?

thank you

This is a good question. Broadly, the purpose of a comparative essay is to draw out points of similarity and points of difference to derive meaning. Meaning is the intangible quality we attempt to track through literature, meaning can come from enduring themes, motifs, values and ideas.

It is important to remember that meaning shapes us and we shape meaning too. This is partly why the comparative essay in English is important. Meaning both changes yet stays the same. It encapsulates ideas, themes, morals, motifs etc .It might sound like a contradictory thing to say but one thing the syllabus is trying to get you to do is to reflect on how and why we tend to view the world, human experience, ourselves and others both universally and relatively.

Let's use two novels as an example. You could argue that the time period in which a work was produced influences an author. I would refer to this as context dependent themes/values are things like hospitality, social norms of the period in which the text was produced. However, you can also illustrate that some values within literature seem to be enduring (or universal) e.g. themes of justice, good vs evil are regarded as universal

Say for example, the question you receive is “Compare texts A and B” I would recommend firstly to focus on the question verb. In this case it is “compare” therefore the theme of your essay should reflect this task. Any two texts have points of similarity and difference to varying degrees, so you need to be precise in your comparative analysis.

The degree to which two texts differ or are similar should be reflected using very precise language to reflect this:

Similarly
Juxtaposed
Contrastingly
Likewise
Antithesis

I hope this helps!

 

[raspberriesandpears]

i agree with all above - i find integrated paragraphs more useful but that's just me

are you talking about mod a? because specific mod a tips are as follows:
- context!! context is your best friend - any comparison you make needs to be informed by the author's context (why was this changed/kept the same)
- if you're doing mod a bring in syllabus language, e.g. alignment and collision.

 

[Masaken]

does anyone have any like tips maybe like "dos and donts" when writing comparative essays? Maybe also like a general structure?

thank you

i like the divided structure, 4 paragraphs - basically text 1 idea 1 text 2 idea 1, text 1 idea 2 text 2 idea 2 (and it's the one mostly pushed for among teachers) because it allows for a broader textual conversation to take place and a relatively 'easier' way to create a cohesive essay that explored each text in enough depth, though 4 paragraphs means you need to cut down on your word count per paragraph (eg. if you wrote 270-300 words per paragraph in other modules, aim for 200-230). if you do 4 paragraphs basically that means you need to make sure you make explicit references and direct connections to the conversation and the other text despite a 'broader textual conversation' being constructed (because those small connections shape the wider scale textual conversation) which kinda sucks especially since that means your analysis and comparisons end up making your paragraph longer (and you need 4 paragraphs)

but the integrated structure (3 paragraphs of 3 themes, with 4x examples, 2 of which are from each text in each paragraph) allows for the more direct links and references to the conversation to be made since you're analysing them side by side, meaning you need to pick specific examples that are very comparable to one another and thus brings about some really strong analysis and comparison for the textual conversation. if it's done really well this essay structure turns out to be the most effective one, but falls flat if not (which is why people go for divided as the 'safer' option)