The Comparative Essay
Instructions
Selecting from the following topics and readings, create a research essay of 900 to 1,000 words.
Note:
While a research essay normally involves conducting your own research, for this assignment, the research sources are provided (i.e., the readings
listed are the research sources to be used).
Include appropriate elements of the research essay, including summary, paraphrase and quotation, and integration and documentation of source
material. Parenthetical citation and a works cited page in MLA style are required.
The assignment will be completed in three stages:
1. Summarizing and note taking
2. Writing a draft essay
3. Writing a completed essay
The assignment will not be marked unless the summaries and first draft are attached.
Make sure that your thesis signals both your purpose in comparing the two essays and the basis for comparison that you have chosen. You may find that
the Discussion Questions that follow each essay are useful in helping you identify the thesis, main ideas, rhetorical strategies, and supporting
details used in the essays.
Topics:
1. Choose a basis for comparison and write a comparison of the approaches to the relationship between youth employment and the economy presented
in “Can Generation Xers Be Trained?” (page 509) and “The Sweet Bird of Youth Is Showing Signs of Age” (page 520).
2. Compare the way in which the authors use detail to explore the importance of one of the following: family, work, cultural practice, or
cultural identity in the two essays “Memories of Montreal—and Richness” (page 150) and “Lend Me Your Light” (page 153 ).
4 essays will be uploaded along with this instruction
Criteria for Marking Assignment 3
The following criteria will be used in marking Assignment 3:
• 80–100%
o A clear thesis that signals both the basis for comparison and your purpose for comparing in subtle, sophisticated language
o Excellent comparative organization
o Originality and/or sophistication, often expressed via specific examples and complex sentence style and diction
o Clear signalling of summarizing or paraphrasing
o Syntactically smooth incorporation of quoted material
o Subtle understanding and expression of content shown by appropriate linkage of detail compared to main idea
o No basic grammar or punctuation errors
o Correct use of MLA-style citation and documentation
• 70–79%
o A clear thesis that signals both basis of and purpose for comparison, though perhaps not in as subtle or sophisticated language as above
o Good comparative organization
o Good understanding of content, with evidence of some originality and sophistication at the top end of the scale, evidenced by appropriate,
though not always sophisticated, linkage of detail to main idea
o Correct, though not always smoothly incorporated, quotation, paraphrase, and summary
o Infrequent grammar or punctuation errors
o Correct use of MLA-style citation and documentation
• 60–69%
o Reasonable comparative thesis, tending, at the bottom of the scale, to lack a conceptual edge or to not completely signal the basis of or
purpose for comparison
o Basic comparative structure, though some lack of balance in use of detail, or blurring of categories
o Some errors in transitions to or signalling of quotations, paraphrase, or summary
o Some weakness in use of detail or linking of detail to comparative structure or main idea
o Some grammatical or punctuation errors, but the essay demonstrates a grasp of the fundamentals of sentence structure
o Some errors in MLA-style citation or documentation
• 50–59%
o Frequent writing errors, including some structural errors, but the essay remains coherent
o No real thesis, but the essay hangs together
o Ineffective use of comparative structure; inability to present main ideas
o Little use of detail from sources
o Significant errors in MLA-style citation or documentation
• Below 50% (Failure)
o No thesis
o Virtually no organization
o Little, if any, ability to present concepts or even details coherently
o No use of material from sources or use of MLA-style citation and documentation
o Grammatical errors impede understanding of the essay
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