English 1301, Fall 2013 (Huntington) Comparative Analysis Essay Assignment Sheet
First Draft DUE for Peer Review: 17 and 19 September 2013; FINAL DRAFT DUE: 24 September 2013
The Assignment: In an 800+ word, MLA formatted essay, the student is to compare and contrast two
texts in terms of rhetorical appeals (ethos, logos, and pathos), structure (organization), or other
thematic and/or textual components as indicated below. The student will implement a point-by-point
structure in this essay. Any proposed alternative must receive instructor approval.
Comparative Options:
1) Sherman Alexie uses the metaphor of “breaking down the door” to describe the act of learning to
read (page 27). What are the connotations of this metaphor? How does it compare with Frederick
Douglass’s account of his acquisition of literacy in “Learning to Read and Write” (page 86) in which he
says that he sometimes felt as though “learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing”? As he
encountered arguments for and against slavery in the books he read, Douglass felt that reading
deepened his already vivid experience of slavery: “It had given me a view of my wretched condition,
without the remedy” (paragraph 6). Is literacy a means to freedom for Alexie as it was, ultimately, for
Douglass? If so, freedom from what or freedom to do what?
2) How surprised were you by the last line in the essay, “Me Talk Pretty One Day” (page 212)? To what
extent did you expect that Sedaris would speak fluently because he understood his teacher’s French
perfectly? Look at some other unexpected last lines in essays that you’ve read in this collection, such as
Bernard Cooper’s “A Clack of Tiny Sparks” (page 78) or Jamaica Kincaid’s “The Estrangement” (page 129)
or any two other last lines you found surprising, and identify how each other goes about setting up the
surprise. When you look back, at what point in each essay might you have expected the unexpected? Be
as specific as possible in your response.
3) What exactly is Amy Tan’s “mother tongue” (page 232)? What does the phrase usually mean? Would
you call her mother’s English “broken English”? What does that phrase imply? Why does Tan write with
her mother in mind as her ideal reader? How does Tan’s determination to keep her mother linked to her
writing compare with Richard Rodriguez’s profound sense of having irrecoverably lost a connection with
his parents in “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” (page 187)? Does Rodriguez’s distinction
between private and public languages hold true for Tan?
4) Consider “Absolutely Fabulous” (page 57) in connection with Daniel Akst’s “What Meets the Eye”
(page 293). In what ways can Akst’s explanation of why looks are important shed additional light on
Augusten Burroughs’s motivation to develop abdominal muscle?
5) “Lest I begin to sound like Pollyanna, however, let me say that I don’t like having MS. I hate it”
(paragraph 9 of “On Being a Cripple” (page 142)). Discuss Nancy Mairs’s admission of hatred for the
disease—and for herself (paragraph 20)—in relation to Alice Walker’s “abuse” of her injured eye
(paragraph 30) in “Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self” (page 244). What is the role of selfloathing in personal growth?
6) In both this essay, Dave Barry’s “Beauty and the Beast” (page 315), and Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Will
Women Still Need Men?” (page 650), the authors use humorous generalizations to explain the points
they are making. Find examples of this approach in both essays. Consider, specifically, how each writer
justifies the generalizations that he or she makes. Are the two authors essentially using the same
technique, or do their approaches differ? Explain.
7) Consider Camille Paglia’s short essay (page 774) in conjunction with Daniel Askt’s “What Meets the
Eye” (page 293). In what ways does Askt’s essay help reinforce Paglia’s point? Which author, in your
opinion, provides the more interesting explanations of what Americans find physically attractive? Give
specific reasons for why you find one analysis more interesting than the other.
8) Compare and contrast the way Michael J. Sandel uses historical facts to support his argument (page
787) to Malcolm Gladwell’s use of historical facts in “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be
Tweeted” (page 411). Where does each author position historical facts in each essay? With what
effect(s)? How are the historical facts used structurally? What effect do they have on the impact of each
essay?
9) Many coming-of-age stories involve an account not only of the child’s acquisition of language but
also, and perhaps more important, of the importance of social context to communication. Miss Glory’s
training of Marguerite as a maid involves “additions to [her] vocabulary and in fact almost represented a
new language” (paragraph 8 of “‘What’s Your Name, Girl?’” (page 31)). How does her [Marguerite
(Maya) Angelou’s] education compare to that of Malcolm X in “My First Conk” (page 153)? What is the
relation between language and power in each essay?
10) Compare “Leave Your Name at the Border” (page 176) to Dinaw Mengestu’s “Home at Last” (page
170). What identity issues do both writers contend with?
11) How does Brent Staples behave on the street (page 217)? How does he deal with the woman’s
anxiety? How has he “altered” his own public behavior? In what ways is his behavior on the street
similar to his “behavior” as a writer? Compare this version of the essay to the alternative version that
follows (page 221). What are the changes and how do those changes influence the essay’s effect on the
reader? How do you compare Staples’s strategies—in both versions—to those of Malcolm X in “My First
Conk” (page 153)?
12) Consider Jerald Walker’s essay (page 251) along with Brent Staples’s “Just Walk on By: A Black Man
Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space” (page 217). How would you differentiate the racial factors in
each essay? How does Staples’s essay conform to Walker’s advice on how to tell a good story (page
254)?
13) Compare David Brooks’s observations about how we prefer to be around “people who are basically
like themselves” (paragraph 1 of “People Like Us” (page 330)) to E. B. White’s classic essay “Once More
to the Lake” (page 260). In what ways can Brooks’s point play a factor in evaluating White’s essay, which
was written decades earlier? In what ways does White’s lake community support Brooks’s perspective
on diversity?
14) Compare the generalizations Michael Chabon makes about men in this essay (page 343) to the ones
Dave Barry makes in “Beauty and the Beast” (page 315). In what specific ways are these generalizations
similar and in what ways are they different? Compare, too, the ways in which both writers draw on
personal experience to support their claims. How would you characterize the tone of voice of each
writer? How does this tone affect your reading of each essay?
15) Reread James Fallows’s essay (page 400), focusing on his descriptions of physical movement,
especially in paragraphs 9 though 14. Is it possible to understand his idea of the “kinetic chain”
(paragraph 12) only by reading a description of it, or must the reader also enact it with his or her body?
Compare Fallows’s anatomically detailed account with Annie Dillard’s “The Death of a Moth” (page 317).
How does each writer integrate such “close focus” description into his or her larger overarching point?
Do these passages slow the pace of the essays? If they do, to what extent? If they don’t, explain why
they don’t.
16) How would you characterize Katha Pollitt’s stance toward today’s parents (page 555)? What are
some of the reasons she gives to explain parents’ choices and actions? Consider Pollitt’s argument in the
light of Bernard Cooper’s essay “A Clack of Tiny Sparks: Remembrances of a Gay Boyhood” (page 78).
How does Cooper’s account of his parents’ attitude compare with Pollitt’s portrait of parents? What
general points about childrearing can you draw from the contrasts and commonalities between the
essays? How does parenting figure in the transmission of beliefs and practices in America, according to
these authors?
17) Compare the claims about gender that Barbara Ehrenreich makes in this essay (page 650) to the
ones Michael Chabon makes in “Faking It” (page 343). What authority does each writer invoke to make
his or her claims? In what specific ways are their approaches similar, and in what ways are they
different? How does each writer’s own gender affect your reading of the claims her or she makes?
18) Read Azar Nafisi’s excerpt from “Reading Lolita in Tehran” (page 511) and consider Nafisi’s students’
challenges in obtaining an education. What obstacles do the girls overcome to join Nafisi’s class? How
do the difficulties Frederick Douglass faced in getting an education compare with those of Nafisi’s
students (page 86)?
19) Read David Sedaris’s “Me Talk Pretty One Day” (page 212) and compare his and Edward Hoagland’s
approaches to handling difficulties with speech (page 113). What strategies do they use to deal with
being less than fluent? To what extent do their limitations affect their feelings about themselves? About
the world around them? Who deals more effectively with not being able to communicate easily? Why?
20) Richard Rodriguez opposes proposals to teach bilingual children in their native languages, wishing to
keep native language “private” and fearing that teaching bilingual children in their native languages will
further contribute to the marginalization of minorities (page 187). Read Walter Benn Michaels’s essay,
“The Trouble with Diversity” (page 744). Based on your analysis and understanding of Michael’s
argument, how do you think Michaels would react to Rodriguez’s proposition about bilingual education?
Which writer do you find more persuasive, and why?