ENG3U Comparative Essay
Short Pieces Synthesis Activity
Learning Goal: For this task you will draw on class discussions and your knowledge of narrative elements
to discuss the effectiveness of specific writing choices made by the authors studied thus far. You will use
proper MLA citations and supporting evidence to support a thesis statement that responds to one of the
below questions.
For this task, you will choose two of the pieces which were studied during the first unit (see list below). As
a group, you will then write a comparative essay which uses those pieces to discuss one of the following
topics. Each group member must clearly identify their contribution/work for the comparative essay in
order to receive a mark.
a. Characterization – How does the author create their characters? Does the believability of a
character make the story more effective? Or more realistic?
b. Point of View – Compare the point of view techniques employed by the author. How does
perspective influence the reader’s understanding of the theme?
c. Imagery – Discuss the effect of imagery and whether the author’s use of imagery creates a more
complete experience of the piece for the reader.
d. Conflict – How does the author use conflict to create a more compelling story?
e. Irony – Discuss the author’s use of irony (a difference between appearance and reality), how it
enhances the theme and the reader’s experience of the story.
f. Setting – For some stories the setting is very important, while for others it is not. Discuss how the
setting contributes to the theme and the reader’s enjoyment of the story.
Pieces Studied:
“Death by Scrabble” – Charlie Fish
“Mr. Know All” – W. Somerset Maugham
“Lather and Nothing Else” – Hernando Tellez
“All the King’s Horses” – Kurt Vonnegut
“Harrison Bergeron” – Kurt Vonnegut
“Bread” – Michael Crummey
Be aware that I am specifically looking for your ability to demonstrate your understanding of literary
terms, comparative essay structure (we’ll explore this in detail), grammar and citation.
Graphic organizer OR outline are to be finished by Thursday, September 25, 2014 at the end of class.
Final Essay (including rough and good copies, and individual annotations) is due: _____________________
Evaluation: Rubric will be discussed as a class and distributed to each group.