Power of Communication Comparative Essay Assignment

Power of Communication

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Comparative Essay Assignment

Worth 25% of final

All pieces and types of writing have specific intent in terms of a desired message and effect on their audience. For this assignment, you will write an essay of 1200-1500 words, which compares two pieces of writing we have studied in class in terms of such authorial choices as style, intent, structure, literary devices, tone, context, method, audience, realism vs. “authorial license,” point of view/narration, character, space, setting, performative and visual aspects, audience contract,and plot.

You may either choose two pieces that are different in terms of type of writing, a comparison that will focus more on form (for example, a piece of long-form journalism and a poem, or an essay and a short story), or you may choose two pieces from the same category of writing, and focus on how they use the same form in similar and different ways. Your comparative thesis will include a mention of both pieces of writing, the topics of comparison and whether they are similar or not, and an argument that tells the reader why this comparison is interesting, relevant, or meaningful.

In your essay, you must quote at least three times from your two main sources, and refer without quoting (paraphrase or summary) at least once to a specific passage in either source.  Every time you quote, paraphrase, or summarize a source, you must document your source using in-text citation in APA or MLA format.

To help you in your analysis, and to practice documentation, you must find and refer to three secondary sources in your essay.  Sources can include, for example, an author biography, a literary analysis, a filmed version of a play, a newspaper or journal article about the piece of writing or giving information about a contextual event or topic referred to in the compared writings.  Your five sources (the writing being compared and the three secondary sources) will be used to create a reference list in APA or MLA format, which will be on its own separate page attached to the document.

Please give your typed essay a title and double-space.

The essay is due in class Week 12 at class time.  In Week 10 a tentative outline for your essay, including a full thesis, prospective structure and evidence, and the APA or MLA list of your five sources is due (5%).