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Resources

__ What is an essay? __

Essays are shorter pieces of writing that often require the student to hone a number of skills such as close reading, analysis, comparison and contrast, persuasion, conciseness, clarity, and exposition. As is evidenced by this list of attributes, there is much to be gained by the student who strives to succeed at essay writing. The purpose of an essay is to encourage students to develop ideas and concepts in their writing with the direction of little more than their own thoughts (it may be helpful to view the essay as the converse of a research paper). Therefore, essays are (by nature) concise and require clarity in purpose and direction. This means that there is no room for the student’s thoughts to wander or stray from his or her purpose; the writing must be deliberate and interesting.

Steps To Narrative Writing
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 * 1) 1 **Be ready to tell a story**. In basic terms, a narrative essay is a work of narration: storytelling. The most important brick of building a narrative essay is a **plot** or storyline. Right after you get your first ideas in your head, make a fresh, vibrant page and start brainstorming your plot.
 * 2) 2 **Have some type of setting**. A plot has a varying structure, but, you need to have a setting; a place where your story starts or takes place (exposition). You need to describe the setting- it's physical appearance, either with the help of descriptive words or even with metaphor and imagery.
 * 3) 3 **Then you should build your characters...these can be as many as you want**, however, it is advised to always keep your focus on **one or two** characters, because that makes writing less stressful for the author. Intricately describe your character's features, and include their speech, behaviour and also how one conflicts with the other.
 * 4) 4 **Meanwhile, you should think of your climax, the twist in your story**. It could be a death, a secret finally revealed, etc. Do not introduce the climax right in the beginning or all of a sudden, prepare your reader slowly for the climax and bring it at the end. This will keep the reader glued to the final word.
 * 5) 5 **As you are building for your climax, give the reader small hints**. So when the climax appears, the reader is screaming and grunting, "Dang, no! Oh, I knew it . He's the one!".
 * 1) **Describe all the situations so the reader can visualize it**. Use sensory words and include all five senses.

===Comparison/contrast of works sharing similarities but written by different authors and/or in different literary periods ===

While there are many forms of compare-and-contrast essays, the best ones use the points of comparison and contrast that they identify between the works in order to make a claim about how one text illuminates the other or how they illuminate each other. Rather than a simple delineation of differences and similarities, your essay should use those differences and similarities to make a larger argument about how comparing the two texts reveals something unexpected or non-obvious about one or both of the works.

Most often, such claims work to show how texts do similar things differently. Therefore, often the best structure for this kind of argument is to detail enough similarities between the works (especially works written by vastly different authors and/or in different literary periods) to justify your comparison and to narrow the scope of your discussion. In other words, first show how your two vastly different texts are attempting similar things. Then, focus the remainder of your essay on the nuanced differences between each text’s approach to those similar things and the way in which juxtaposing them illuminates our understanding of one or both.

A compare-and-contrast essay might seem like the easiest type of paper to write: just find things that are alike and then find things that are different. Piece of cake, right? There’s a catch, however. It is up to you to argue why those similarities and differences matter; otherwise, you don’t have much of a paper. The following steps will guide you through the process of writing an effective compare-and-contrast essay that actually has something valuable to say. 1) **So they’re alike and they’re different**. So what? A good paper will not simply offer a summary of themes, characters, or plot. Your job is to think about how these comparisons and contrasts create meaningful connections to a larger issue. 2) **Create an effective thesis statement.** Again, you need to say why the comparison and contrast is worthy of note. Let’s say you want to compare and contrast the heroines of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre. Your thesis might be this: “Although Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre are very different on the outside, their shared internal values connects them in literary history and in the fight for women’s rights.” Now you have a reason for your efforts and a compelling case for your audience’s attention. 3) **Select a pattern.** There are two ways you can write a compare-and-contrast paper. You can present your arguments in a "tandem" pattern or an "alternating" pattern.
 * How to Write a Compare-and-Contrast Essay **
 * Introduction **
 * How to Write a Compare-and-Contrast Essay in 8 Easy Steps **
 * Tandem. Separate your pros and cons into two camps. For example, if you are comparing Jane Austen’s Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice to the heroine of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre,you would list all the ways in which the protagonists are similar and different. A rough list might look something like this:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Elizabeth || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Jane ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Upper class || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Dirt poor, orphan ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Beautiful || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Plain ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Outspoken || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Outspoken ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Resists marriage || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Resists marriage ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Socially inappropriate || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Socially awkward ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Ends up with her man,

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">and all is well || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Ends up with her man,

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">but only after trauma || <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Once you have your list, the body of your paper will address everything you have discovered about one character, then everything about the other character. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">4) **How to decide on a pattern**. While there is no rule about selecting one method over another, for longer papers (those that exceed five or six pages) you should probably go with the alternating pattern. It is hard for the reader to retain all the pertinent information about each side of your argument in lengthier discussions. For shorter papers, the tandem pattern will probably be the best bet. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">5) **Support with primary text.** Support your analysis by providing primary textual support; in this case, the primary sources are the novels Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre. For each point you address, whether in a tandem or an alternating pattern, offer textual evidence for your positions either by directly quoting from the text or by paraphrasing. Be sure to properly cite each quote or paraphrase in whatever format your instructor requests (e.g., MLA, Chicago, etc.). <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">6) **Support with secondary sources, if required.** Some instructors may ask that you use sources other than the text itself to support your argument. A secondary source is anyone other than the original author. Use secondary sources to provide additional backing for your thesis, especially in arguing for why the compare-and-contrast approach you have selected is valid. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">7) **Include your own voice.** One of the biggest challenges for a writer is to offer his or her own take on a topic. You may feel that everyone else has already said everything there is to say about your subject. Don’t be discouraged! Your own interpretation is what is most valuable in the end. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">8) **Review. Revise. Repeat.** Compare-and-contrast essays can often become convoluted if a tight check is not kept on your writing. Review your work often to make sure you have not suffered the sins of summarizing plot, soapboxing, or wandering pointlessly in the literary woods. Move or delete text if you have to: don’t keep trying to pound a piece into the puzzle if it clearly doesn’t fit.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Alternating. If you opt for this choice, you will be juxtaposing Elizabeth and Jane’s pros and cons. Creating the list of likeness and differences will be handy here as well, but in using this method, you will continually address the two characters “back and forth” as you compose the body of your paper. For example, you might say, “Elizabeth is easy on the eyes, a traditional beauty, but Brontë’s Jane is continually described as plain and homely.”

[] This site has great information about essay writing.

[] This is a terrific resourse for mapping your outline. It can help you formulate your ideas and assist you in deciding how to organize them.

[] Here's info about developing an effective thesis statement.

[] MLA In-text citation guide

[] MLA citation page guide

[] Literary terms and definitions