omparative essay

Comparative Essay

Political Science 101

Due two weeks before the Final.

SUGGESTED GUIDELINES:

1. Examine each work thoroughly. Compare and contrast the following themes:

a. What are the most important political ideas or themes presented in each book?

b. Identify & discuss, if any, the political perspectives of the main characters at the onset of the story?

c. Identify & discuss any incidents that challenge or provoke the perspectives of the characters?

d. How do these incidents influence the outcome of the story?

e. What new insights did you, as reader & student, gain from reading these works?

2. Form & length: ALL essays must be typewritten and double-spaced, and at least 6 pages in length (250 words per page). Please edit your essay for grammatical and spelling errors. Such errors are distracting and makes the essay more difficult to read. Style manuals are available at the bookstore and are helpful in writing essays.

3. Remember to use a title page that includes your name (first and last), date and course information. Please staple your papers in the upper left hand corner and do not use report covers.

4. You may choose any PAIR of works listed. Do NOT break up the pairs of books—no switching around! Fiction and non-fiction books are included on the list. The general topic is also noted. Most of the books are available in paperback form and are available at most bookstores, libraries and on the Internet. No substitutions are allowed.

5. Write the essay in YOUR own words. Do NOT use any other source materials—this is an assignment where you must do the comparative work—in YOUR own words.

READING LIST FOR COMPARATIVE ESSAY

1. Orwell, George, Animal Farm and Bellamy, Edward, Looking Backward (Utopian Societies).

2. Skinner, Walden Two and Huxley, Aldous, Brave New World (Alternative Futures).

3. Carmon/Knizhnik, Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and

Hirshman, Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World

4. Malcolm X, Autobiography and Cleaver, Eldridge, Soul on Ice (Race Relations)

5. Huxley, Aldous, Brave New World and Atwood, Margaret, The Handmaid’s Tale (Alternative Futures)

6. Bernstein/Woodward, All the President’s Men and Reich, Robert, Locked In The Cabinet (Government)

7. Lewis, Anthony Gideon’s Trumpet and Woodward & Armstrong, The Brethren (Supreme Court)

8. Frank, Anne, Diary of Anne Frank and Houston, Farewell to Manzanar (Human Rights and War)

9. Bradbury, Ray, Fahrenheit 451 and Orwell, George, 1984 (Government and Censorship)

10. Acuna, Rudy, Occupied America and Brown, Claude, Manchild in the Promised Land (Minority Voices)

11. Friedan, Betty, Feminine Mystique and Steinem, Gloria, Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions (Feminism)

12. Davis, Mike, City of Quartz, and Starr, Kevin Inventing the Dream: California Through the Progressive Era

13. Steinbeck, John, Grapes of Wrath, and Helen Hunt Jackson, Ramona

14. Steinbeck, John, Of Mice and Men, and Starr, Kevin, Endangered Dreams: The Great Depression in California