Need to be willing to read two short stories and develop an essay that helps you to differentiate two of our short stories based on one of the following sets of questions. Your essay should be primari

ENGL 3450 CONTRASTIVE ESSAY (25 0 pts) WHAT’S A “ CONTRASTIVE ESSAY ”? Traditional compare -and -contrast essays often devolve into a laundry list of similarities and differences between two or more texts. I’m asking you to do something different : to explain how two short stories differently handle the same topic, theme, or motif , o r, in other words, to focus your essay around a single point of contrast . RATIONALE In addition to putting our readings into conversation with one another, c ontrastive th inking , as I said on an earlier assignment sheet, can be useful because, by bringing the differences between two or more superficially similar works into relief, it can sharpen our perception a nd understanding of how each work handles the same theme, motif, or topic . Finally, setting up the essay in this way will give focus to your discussion ( so as to avoid the previously mentioned laundry list). THE ASSIGNMENT Develop an essay that help s you to differentiate two of our short stories based on one of the following sets of questions . Your essay should be primarily analytical and interpretive (just an attempt to understand the nature of the difference in how each work handles the shared theme, motif, or topic ), not evaluative (a claim that one is better than the other). Point of Contrast Options (choose 1) : 1) How is the death motif differently handled in James Joyc e’s “The Dead” and Katherine Mansfield’s “The Garden -Party”? What idea about death or life or the relationship between the two does each work attempt to express through its handling of this motif? (In other words, how does this motif fit into each work’s m eaning (i. e. its symbolic statement)?) 2) How is the theme of loss differently handled in Yasunari Kawabata’s “The Moon on the Water” and Raymond Carver’s “A Small, Good Thing”? What idea about loss or mourning does each work attempt to ENGL 3450 express through its handling of this theme? (In other words, how does this theme fit into each work’s meaning (i.e. its symbolic statement)?) 3) How is the topic of class antagonism differently handled in two of the Module 7 stories? What idea about clas s antagonism does each work attempt to express through its ha ndling of this topic ? (In other words, how does this topic fit into each work’s meaning (i.e. its symbolic statement)?) 4) How are feminist themes differently handled in two of the Module 8 stories? What idea, either about gender difference, patriarchy, or women’s identities, does each work attempt to express through its handling of this topic ? (In other words, how does this theme fit into each work’s meaning (i.e. its symbolic statement)?) 5) How is the topic of colonialism differently handled in Rudyard Kipl ing’s “The Man Who Would be King ” and Joseph C onrad’s “An Outpost of Progress ”? What idea about colonialism does each work attempt to express through its handling of this topic? (In other words, how does this topic fit into each work’s meaning (i.e. its symbolic statement)?) 6) How is the topic of the enduring effects of colonialism differently handled in Ngugi wa Thio ng’o’s “A Meeting in the Dark ” and Kushwant Singh’s “The Wog ”? What idea about the enduring effects o f colonialism does each work attempt to express through its handling of this topic? (In other words, how does this topic fit into each work’s meaning (i.e. its symbolic statement)?) 7) How is the topic of state oppression differently handled in Nad ine Gordimer’s “Africa Emergent ” and Wang Meng’s “Kite Streamers ”? What idea about the effects of state oppression or the means that individuals use to resist that oppression does each work attempt to express through its handling of this topic? (In other words , how does this topic fit into each work’s meaning (i.e. its symbolic statement)?) 8) How is the topic of the scapegoat differently handled in Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas ” and Shirley ENGL 3450 Jackson’s “The Lottery” ? What idea about scapegoating does each work attempt to express through its handling of this topic? (In other words, how does this topic fit into each work’s meaning (i.e. its symbolic statement)?) GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS Format: times new roman 12 pt. font, doub le spaced, default margins Heading: Clever title that points to the subject of your essay Length: approximately 4-5 pages (minimum 1200 words) ; it can be longer as long as it isn’t redundant! Citations: U se MLA in -text citations for textual evidence that refer s to the page numb ers in our anthology or the posted pdfs ; you do not have to include bibliographic information if you are using the assigned edition s. (See this website for instructions: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/ .) If you use a text from outside the course (including any secondary sources!) , then you should still do in -text citations but also include a n MLA works cited page. (See this website for instructions : https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/05/ .) Due: See Canvas Submission Instructions: Click on the Module 11 Course Content folder. Select the “Contrastive Essay #1 ” page, then upload the file with your composition. STRUCTURE: Introduction : DO NOT USE A GIMMICKY OPENER!!! Put the two works immediately into conversation with one another by acknowledging some of their most obvious differences (e.g. where they are set, etc.). Use this brief discuss ion of differences to provide the kind of basic information about each story necessary to set up your discussion for your reader. (Do NOT write a general and unfocused plot summary for the stories .) Transition from these differences to the theme, motif, or topic that will serve as the point of contrast . Finally, pose one of the above set s of questions. (Note: For prompts 1) and 2), y ou will need to slightly rephrase the questions to identify the two works you plan to discuss and whether you will focus on a theme, motif, or topic. You do NOT need a tr aditional thesis for this essay !) ENGL 3450 Body: You should dedicate 2 -3 paragraphs to each work (for a total of 4 -6 body paragraphs). Each body paragraph shou ld make use of a topic sentence that identifies a subtopic that will help you to differentiate the works in relation to your overarching topic. Furthermore, each body paragraph should provide (at least one) concrete and specific textual or narrative example , well situated for your reader, that conforms to that paragraph’s subtopic and that will help you to differentiate how the work under consideration handles the shared topic, motif, or theme.

Finally, you should use your second question to perform a local analysis of this example or piece of evidence (i.e. given the piece of textual or narrative evidence, how does the work handle the topic, motif, or theme?) . To put it slightly differently, your body paragraphs should explore specific differences in how each text presents this common element, establishing the fact of their difference. And each body paragraph should attempt to account for the significance of this difference for the way each text imagines or conceptualizes the common element. In your a nalysis, p ay particular attention to the language of the text, especially the use of figurative language or analogies, its tone, and/or specific word choices, a nd its style on the level of the sentence . (An analysis of the language used in each text is esp ecially useful for your discussions of works originally written in English, and thus unmediated by a translator.) Don’t discuss these narrative or textual elements for their own sake; explain ho w this language helps you to begin to answer your overarching question s. Try to use your close attention to the evidence to make your discussion of the set of question s as nuanced as possible in each paragraph. Counterintuitive findings , ones that reveal something about the evidence and short story that goes beyond simply paraphrasing, will be the most highly valued. Each of your four to six body paragraphs should address a different subtopic related to your overarching topic (i.e. help you to answer the question you’ve posed), and you should include transitions between them . As far as how you order your discussion, I recommend doing an analysis of one work and then using that analysis to frame your discussion of the other work, but if you only plan to discuss sub -points of contrast 1 rather than asymmetrical diffe rences 2, you could go back and forth between the stories. However, save any comparative analysis for your penultimate paragraph. (See below.) 1 For example, if your point of contrast was the handling of Dark Romanticism in “The Sandman” and “The Birthmark,” a sub -point of contrast that you might discuss in your body paragraphs is the difference between Nathan’s madness and Aylmer’s. 2 An asymmet rical difference would involve discussing an aspect of one text, say, the supernatural in “The Kibitsu Cauldron” that doesn’t have a counterpart in the other, say, “A Cask of Amontillado” (if the handling of revenge was my overarching point of contrast). ENGL 3450 Penultimate (i.e. next -to -last) Paragraph : In this paragraph, bring togeth er your preceding discussions. Given yo ur discussion of the works in your body paragraphs, how do they differ overall in their handling of the shared topic, theme, or motif? Don’t just assert, explain . More importantly, don’t just summarize what you’ve already said, synthesize your answers from the preceding paragraphs by putting them into conversation with one another. What’s further revealed by juxtaposing the two works in relation to the shared topic, theme, or motif ? Develop a nuanced claim that differentiates the two works in relation to this common element . Final Paragraph: Your final paragraph should be evaluative. Some questions to think with: What is appealing or unappealing in how each short story treats the shared theme, motif, or topic? Is one more appealing than th e other (though they might be equally appealing for different reasons)? Do they seem re levant to contemporary life (in America or in the world) ? Why should we still read these works? Does one seem more relevant or useful or emotionally powerful? Why? The p oint of this paragraph is to explain the value of the interpretive and analytic work you’ve just done. In other words, this paragraph should still build and reflect on the previous argument but in a slightly different way. As you write, o ther things to consider:  Feel free to develop this essay out of one or more of your journal entries or discussion posts. That is, you have permission to incorporate your language from those assignments into this essay. Of course, don’t just copy and paste; rework and int egrate those previous writings so that they are seamlessly incorporated into the present one.  Be sure to use quotations from the texts — specific words, clauses, and sentences — in the course of your analysis. You may also discuss concrete scenes or specifi c characters or settings from the texts . Explain what is significant about the textual evidence and how it helps you to develop your thinking.  Don’t just offer a list of differences. Say why those differences are significant.  Limit summary! Try to use plot summary only as a tool to orient your reader to the textual or narrative evidence. ENGL 3450  W here relevant, manifest an awareness of the socio -historic milieu as well as the formal and generic elements of the text. (By all means, use the keywords we’ve been st udying; however, don’t misuse them!)  Y ou should interpret and analyze, not evaluate or judge the works except in the final paragraph .  Draw implications from what’s explicitly stated in the short stories, but make sure you have good reasons for doing so (and explain those reasons to your reader). Be careful about making claims with little textual evidence or flimsy reasoning behind them. Still, be provocative and intellectually challeng ing , rather than playing it safe . Rubric Total P oints: 25 0 Proficient (High Pass) Competent (Pass) Acceptable (Low Pass) Novice (Not Passing) General Instructions Followed (25 pts) All general ins tructions followed correctly (25 pts) One of the general instructions has been disregarded, other than the length req uirement and structure directions (22 pts) More than one of the general instructions disregarded, other than the length requirement , or structure directions partially disregarded (19 pts) It falls short of the length requirement or structure directions mostly disregarded (13 pts) Introd uction Instructions Followed (10 pts) All instructions for the int roduction followed correctly (10 pts) One of the introduction instructions has been disregarded (8 pts) More than one of the introduction instructions has been Introduction directions mostly disregarded (5) ENGL 3450 disregarded (7 pts) Topic Sentences for Body Paragraphs (15 pts) All body paragraphs have topic sentences that identify the subject of the paragraph and make clear its relation to the overarching questio ns (15 pts) The majority of the body paragraphs have topic sentences that identify the subject of the paragraph and makes clear its relation to the overarching questions (13 pts) Less than half of the body paragraphs don’t have topic sentences or topic sentences have no clear relation to the overarching questions (11 pts) No topic sentences (7 pts) Evidence Used in Body Paragraphs (30 pts) All body paragraphs have evidence that is clearly presented, accurate, concrete and specific, situated for the reader , and relevant to the topic at hand (30 pts) The majority of the body paragraphs have evidence that is clearly presented, accurate, concrete and specific, situated for the reader , and relevant to the topic at hand (26 pts) At least h alf of the body paragraphs have evidence that is clearly presented, accurate, concrete and specific , situated for the reader , and relevant to the topic at hand (22 pts) Less than half of the body paragraphs have evidence that is clearly presented, accurate, concrete and specifi c, situated for the reader , and relevant to the topic at hand (15 pts) Analysis in Body Paragraphs (80 pts) All body paragraphs relate their evidence to the overarching questions and that evidence is The majority of the body paragraphs relate their evidence to the overarching questions and Some of the body paragraphs relate their evidence to the overarching questions and Evidence is only para phrased rather than analyzed (4 0 pts) ENGL 3450 analyzed in a nuanced and well -reasoned way (i deally, counterintuitive finding s) (80 pts) that evidence is analyzed in a nuanced and well -reasoned way (ideally, counterintuitive findings) (68 pts) that evidence is analyzed in a nuanced and well -reasoned way (ideally, counterintuitive findings) (60 pts) Penultimate Paragraph Synthesis (40 pts) The paragraph persuasively explains the difference in handling by placing findings from preceding paragraphs into conversation with one another so as to provide further nuance to the reader’s understanding of the topic, theme, or motif (i.e. adds a counterintuitive twist to the discussion) (40 pts) The paragraph persuasively explains a difference in handling by placing finding from preceding paragraphs into conversation with one another but adds no further nuance (i.e.

doesn’t add a new twist to the discussion) (34 pts) The paragraph merely asserts a difference in handling without explanation and merely summarizes findings made in preceding paragraphs (30 pts) The paragraph merely asserts a difference in handling without explana tion or merely summarizes findings made in preceding paragraphs (20 pts) Final Paragraph Evaluation (30 pts) The paragraph evaluates the stories in terms of the writer’s conclusions about them and provides persuasive reasoning in support of that The paragraph evaluates the stories in terms of the writer’s conclu sions about them but provides some reasoning to support that evaluation (26 pts) The paragraph evaluates the stories in terms of the writer’s conclusions about them but provides little to no reasoning to support that evaluation (23 pts) The paragraph either doesn’t offer an y evaluative claims or makes those claims about the stories in a way ENGL 3450 evaluatio n (30 pts) unrelated to the preceding discussion (15 pts) Clarity, Grammar, and Usage (20 pts) Sent ences are clear with very few if any errors of grammar and usage (20 pts) Sentences are clear but there are one or two repetit ive errors in grammar or usage (17 pts) Some sentences are confusing and some errors of grammar and usage may interfere with meaning (15 pts ) Very difficult for the reader to understand the basic sense of many sentences due to egregious errors in grammar and usage (10 pt)