Literature assignment P4

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

Literature assignment P4

Writing a comparative essay

The assignment

With a partner you need to do a literature assignment for period 4 of the fifth form's English class. This assignment consists of three elements:

1. A 2250-word comparative essay

2. A 600-word reflective paper

3. An 8-10-minute presentation

The essay

The form of your paper is a compare and contrast essay of at least 2250 words (introduction to conclusion, so without bibliography). You discuss the differences and similarities between two books with regard to 1) the protagonists, 2) one focal point of your choice, e.g., genre or theme, and 3) an extensive, relevant and topical article you’ve found in connection to (one of) the books in general or your focal point in particular. Everything you claim has to be supported by information from the primary source (the books and article themselves) and from secondary sources (articles from a newspaper, criticism, trusted websites on English literature). You should include at least 4 citations from at least 3 different secondary sources. You include a bibliography (books, articles and websites you used while working on the assignment). You use the APA method for your essay and bibliography. 

Essay structure

• Introduction
  
• Body paragraph 1: compare and contrast the protagonists (character analysis) of both books
  
• Body paragraph 2: your focal point: compare and contrast for example themes, or genres, or writing techniques, or the settings of both books
  
• Body paragraph 3: compare and contrast an extensive article you’ve found in connection to (one of) the books or the explored  focal point (themes/ genres/ writing techniques / settings) of paragraph 2
• Conclusion
  

Further requirements

• At least one of the books must have been written before 1900.
• Type your essay in Arial 12 and use sentence distance 1.5. 
• Hand in your essay on actual paper and upload it in the ELO for a plagiarism check. Remember that you cannot use more than 15% of your words as quotes. So use your quotes wisely!
• Hand in your proposal form before you start reading. You need your teacher’s approval! 
• The deadline for the essay and reflective paper is 15 June.

• Study the following websites for writing comparative essays (next slides):

www.aresearchguide.com

www.essaytigers.com

The reflective paper

You write a reflective paper of a minimum of 600 words ( in Arial 12 and  sentence distance 1.5) in which you both individually reflect on:

- the book(s) you’ve read

- the article you’ve involved

- the team process

- your personal learning process

The Presentation

The presentation is intended to introduce the authors and the literary works to the class. The presentation should last 8-10 minutes. Please prepare a Powerpoint or Prezi presentation, but do not have more than 20 words on your slides (so no more than 20 words in the entire PPT/Prezi). The presentation should cover the following topics:

• Introduction writers
  
• Introduction books 
• Explanation of the position the novels hold in their literary periods/genres 
• Explanation of focal point: chose from: themes/ genres/ writing techniques / settings
  
• Explanation of the contents of the article you’ve found and its connection to the book(s) or focal point
  
• Recommendation/ personal opinion

Your mark

Essay 65%

Reflective paper 10%

Presentation 25%

You can find the marking schemes in your study planner.

Explanation focal point

After having compared and contrasted the main characters of your books, you need to chose one focal point. You can compare and contrast your books on themes / genres / writing techniques / settings

Themes

You can compare two books (from different eras) that have a specific theme in common. A theme is a universal idea, lesson, or message explored throughout a work of literature. One key characteristic of literary themes is their universality, which is to say that themes are ideas that not only apply to the specific characters and events of a book or play, but also express broader truths about human experience that readers can apply to their own lives.

Good

Love

Justice

Good versus evil

Power and corruption

Loneliness

War

Betrayal

Loyalty

Etc.

You can write about general themes. For example:

Better

But you can improve the description of your theme by making it more specific, e.g.:

Love: unrequited love, forbidden love, family love, friendship, toxic love, sacrificial love, lost love, etc.

Justice: justice versus revenge (can justice really be found through more bloodshed?), racial justice, social justice, retributive justice, justice and morality, poetic justice, etc.

Genres

You can compare and contrast your books on genre, e.g.:

dystopia,

gothic

science fiction

fantasy

Travel stories

Historical fiction

horror

romance, etc.

Writing techniques

You can compare and contrast your books on writing techniques, e.g.:

link-in-frame-stories

epistolary stories

pastiche

parody

allogory

unreliable narrator

etc.

Settings

Setting is the time and place (or when and where) of the story.  The setting may also include the environment of the story, which can be made up of the physical location, climate, weather, or social and cultural surroundings. You can compare and contrast your books on settings, e.g.:

a specific country, region, city or village

a desert island

a fantasy land/world

universe

a specific building

the future /the Middle Ages

slums

a deeply religious community