Transcript Compare and Contrast Essay - Placentia

Expository Writing
Compare and Contrast Essay
Objective
• Today we will write an essay in the
compare/contrast format.
Review
• Compare- to examine how thing are
similar
• Contrast- to examine how things are
different
Review- How to Read a Poem
• Read the title
• Mark off the sentences in the poem, using
hash marks
• Read the poem through quickly,
highlighting unknown words
• Read the poem again for initial
understanding
Active Reading
Answer as many of the 5 W’s as possible
• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?
ThemeMoodTone-
The Prompt
• Compare and contrast the two poems by
Edgar Lee Masters.
“George Gray”
Edgar Lee Masters
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I have studied many times
The marble which was chiseled for me—
A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.
In truth it pictures not my destination
But my life.
For love was offered me…and I shrank from its
disillusionment:
Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid:
Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
And now I know that we must lift the sail
And catch the winds of destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.
To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness.
But life without meaning is the torture
Of restless and vague desire—
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.
“Fiddler Jones”
Edgar Lee Masters
The earth keeps some vibration going
There in your heart, and that is you.
And if the people find you can fiddle,
Why fiddle you must, for all your life.
5 What do you see, a harvest of clover?
Or a meadow to walk through to the river?
The wind’s in the corn; you rub your hands
For beeves hereafter ready for market;
or else you hear the rustle of skirts
10 Like the girls when dancing at Little Grove.
To Cooney Potter a pillar of dust
Or whirling leaves meant ruinous drouth;
They looked to me like Red-Head Sammy
Stepping it off, to “Toor-a-Loor.”
15 How could I till my forty acres
Not to speak of getting more,
With a medley of horns, bassoons and piccolos
Stirred in my brain by crows and robins
And the creak of a windmill—only these?
20 And I never started to plow in my life
That someone did not stop in the road
And take me away to a dance or picnic.
I ended up with a broken fiddle—
25 And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories,
And not a single regret.
Notes taken while rereading the poems
Topics
Fiddler Jones
George Gray
regretful
sad
fearful
desperate
heavy
dark
tragic
depressing
Back to
JOT
Character
Sim/Dif
Mood
Sim/Dif
don’t hide from life Theme
take chances
live your life
Sim/Dif
artistic
lighthearted
fulfilled
talented
happy
light
playful
optimistic
meaning in life
use your talents
Step One
• Give your essay a title.
Two Poems from Spoon River Anthology
Step Two: The Plan
Things I might want to compare and or
contrast• Characters
• Mood
• Theme
• Etc.
Step Three: Summary Statement
• State the genre, title, and author
• Give the situation or background
The characters Fiddler Jones and George
Gray speak from the grave in Edgar Lee
Master’s poems about life and death.
Step Four- What is your point?
Thesis Statement
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Here, the point is to compare and
contrast.
What will you compare and contrast?
literary elements, events, or beliefs
Although the characters and mood in
“George Gray” and “Fiddler Jones” by
Edgar Lee Masters are vastly different,
the theme of living life to its fullest is
present in both.
Step 4: Make a Plan-Block it Out
Thesis + Plan
Character
Mood
Theme
Conclusion
Step 5: Make an informal outlineJOT
Thesis + Plan Characters
Use your notes
for examples,
elaborations, and
Embedded quotes.
Click below to
review notes
Mood
Use your notes
for examples,
elaborations, and
Embedded quotes
Theme
Use your
notes
for examples,
elaborations,
and
Embedded
quotes
Conclusion
Step 6: Use transitions
• a similar, another, also, besides, like,
likewise, resembles, comparable, similar
to, comparison, differ, different, unlike, on
the other hand, contrary, but, yet, opposite
from, to contrast, dissimilar, different from,
by comparison
Step 7: Plan a Conclusion
1. Remind the reader of your thesis
2. Repeat key information using synonyms
3. Nothing new
or
CIP
Call to action
Insight
Prediction
Steps 8-12
8. Write your first draft
9. Revise your draft
10. Edit your essay
11. Make a final draft
12. Proofread/ Publish/ Share
Two Poems from Spoon River Anthology
“George Gray” and “Fiddler Jones” by Edgar Lee Masters are characters who
speak from the grave from the book of poems called Spoon River Anthology. The
main characters Fiddler Jones and George Gray are very different. Like night and
day, the mood in each poem is in total contrast . Although the characters and mood
in both poems are vastly different, the theme of living life to its fullest is present in
both.
Fiddler Jones is the polar opposite of George Gray. While Fiddler Jones is
artistic and lighthearted, George Gray is filled with regret, fear, and sadness. While
fiddler Jones ended up with “a thousand memories,” George Gray lived life “without
meaning.” One character embraced the human experience and the other hid from
it.
Similarly, the mood in each poem is at opposite ends of the light spectrum.
Fiddler Jones reflects of his life in a light and playful manner. He remembers being
taken away by friends to “dance and picnic.” George Gray’s tragic life is
punctuated by darkness, missed chances, and regret. He remembers hiding from
life because he was afraid.
Both characters arrive at the same conclusion when reflecting on their lives; a
life lived without meaning is meaningless. Even though George Gray missed his
chance to experience life while living, he now sees the error of his ways. Fiddler
Jones lived and felt every joy life offered because he also allowed himself to
experience life’s pain.
Closure
• What are the steps for writing a
compare/contrast essay?
• What is the format for writing this type of
essay?
Practice
• Write your own compare and contrast
essay.