Your final exam will be a three-paragraph essay of at least 600 words

Subject:EnglishPrice: Bought3

Share With

Your final exam will be a three-paragraph essay of at least 600 words. The essay should be well-written and cohesive, with three paragraphs of roughly the same length that treat both texts equally; although you do not need to include a Works Cited page, you should properly frame and parenthetically cite all quotations and paraphrases. This is open book and you can also use material from any of your journal entries or papers this semester. (You may visit the WC for help planning this paper). 

 

Pairings for comparison (choose only one set of two characters):

 

1. Edith Wharton's Lily Bart from The House of Mirth and Edna Pontellier from Kate Chopin's The Awakening
2. Kate Chopin's Calixta from "The Storm" and Edna Pontellier from Kate Chopin's The Awakening
3. Kate Chopin's Mrs. Mallard from "The Story of an Hour" and Edna Pontellier from The Awakening
4. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Jane (the narrator) from "The Yellow Wallpaper" and Edna Pontellier from The Awakening
5. Edith Wharton's Percy Gryce from The House of Mirth and Léonce Pontellier (Edna's husband) from The Awakening
6. Edith Wharton's Bertha Dorset and Kate Chopin's Adele Ratignolle
7. Edith Wharton's Lawrence SeldenThe House of Mirth and John (the husband) from "The Yellow Wallpaper"
8.  Nella Larsen's Irene Redfield and Edith Wharton's Lily Bart from The House of Mirth
9. Nella Larsen's Clare Kendry and Edith Wharton's Lily Bart from The House of Mirth
10. Kate Chopin's Edna Pontellier and Nella Larsen's Irene Redfield
11. Kate Chopin's Edna Pontellier and Nella Larsen's Clare Kendry

 

 (These discussions may consider their spouses as well, but should focus on the character you choose.)

 

Comparison and contrast is not particularly illuminating if all you do is provide a list of similarities and differences between the characters, but it's a good place to start, and the three-paragraph format walks you through the comparison and contrast to arrive at a claim about the significance of the similarities and differences.  Before you begin, think a bit about the basis for your comparison of the pair(s) of characters about whom you are writing: what is it that you think makes them worth examining? You might consider such topics as gender expectations, heredity, environment, ambition, power, greed, sexuality, guilt,... the list goes on and on. Then complete the following:

 

In ¶1, make and support a claim about character A.  

In ¶2, make and support a similar claim about character B.

In ¶3, referencing and building upon the specific claims and evidence in ¶s1-2, draw some conclusions about literature and marriages, gender roles, and social expectations.

 

As always, I am not looking for something specific--if I were, I would have asked for it--but I am looking for 1) active, thoughtful engagement with the texts, the assignment, and class discussion, 2) a clearly written, cohesive essay that demonstrates the skills that you developed in ENG 101/102) and a demonstrated ability to follow directions ranging from the assignment itself to citation and required formatting.