Objectives:
- To build upon the concept that the comparison or contrast of two things must proceed from one set of criteria or points
- To introduce the criteria of the thesis in a comparison-or-contrast essay
- To begin the pre-writing process for the students’ essays
- Chalkboard
- Overhead projector
- Reproduction(s) of “Some Real-Life Thesis Statement” (See Example) For group work, make one overhead transparency. For individual work, make a copy for each student.
- Transparency reproduction of “Some Real-Life Thesis Statement - Key” (See Example)
- If the students have not been working on comparison-or-contrast essays in their regular English classes, it might be necessary to briefly review some of the basic elements of Workshop Six, such as the need to analyze two “things” from one set of criteria or points and the two different organization plans, the point-by-point plan and the block plan.
- Explain to the students that they are going to work on their own comparison-or-contrast essays.7 Continue by asking students if they know or remember what a thesis statement is. Remind them that a thesis statement is the one or two sentences that express the main idea or argument of an essay.
- Present a helpful analogy by saying to the students: “Imagine that you are in college and you are broke. You write to your mom and dad and explain all the expenses you have had recently, such as books, food, etc. Your letter ends up being long.” Ask students what they think the most important sentence in the letter will be. Most students will agree that the sentence that “asks for cash” is the most important sentence. Tell the students that the sentence is a college student’s thesis.
- For further clarification, tell the students that the thesis is the main point of the essay just as the topic sentence is the main point of a paragraph. Put this “equation” on the board:
| Thesis
Essay |
= | Topic Sentence
Paragraph |
- Explain that in developing a thesis for a comparison-or-contrast essay, they must first answer two important questions.
- To begin, tell students that the first question that needs to be answered on the way to forming the thesis is whether they are going to tell their readers that the two things being analyzed are essentially similar or different. Inform the students that when they argue that two things are similar, they are comparing, and when they argue that two things are different, they are contrasting. Explain that the reason you have been referring to this type of essay as comparison-or-contrast is that they will have to decide to do one or the other, especially in short essays.
- To illustrate, point to any two disparate objects in the room, such as a student and a book. Ask the students if the two “things” are similar or different. Most likely they will say “different.” Agree that this is the obvious answer, but asks students if there are any ways that the two “things” are similar.
- As an example, say to the students: “Imagine that you are in college and are asked to explain, for example, that a student and a book are both made of matter, that they are found in a classroom and that they both store information." End this illustration by stating that any two “things” we choose to analyze can be seen as both similar and different, but that we must choose one approach to both limit and focus our analysis or essay.
- Continue this discussion by informing the students that in making this first decision, it is helpful to consider what would interest readers. Hold up two similar objects, such as two pieces of chalk, and ask the students if they would be very “surprised” if you wrote an essay about how similar these two objects are. Use more examples if necessary and then summarize by saying that “going beyond the obvious” will probably lead them to a more interesting argument or thesis. To clarify this first question, write on the board:
Question 1: Similar or Different? (Choose!)
- Explain that the second important question to ask is “Why?”8 Point out that to interest and inform their readers--to get them “ready” for their essays-- it is not enough to merely say, “These two things are different”or “These two things are similar.” As an example, say to the students: “Imagine that your best friend has been asked to go to prom by two boys, and she’s asked your opinion as to who she should choose. You wouldn’t just say to her, ‘Joe and Tom are sure different.’ You’d tell her who was the better choice and why.”
- Tell the students that in their comparison-or-contrast essays, they should have an opinion about or an attitude toward the things they are analyzing, and that will come out by considering why the things are similar or different. The easiest way to begin considering this question is to ask “why” and include the answer in the thesis. Using a phrase that begins with the word “because” in the thesis insures that this question has been answered. To clarify this first question, write on the board:
Question 1: Similar or Different? (Choose!)
Question 2: Why? (Because . . .)
- To reinforce these concepts regarding the thesis, work through “Some Real-Life Thesis Statement” (page 37) if time allows. You may reproduce this on an overhead transparency and work through this with the entire class or make a copy for each student and allow them to work on this individually. In either case, ask students to decide whether the statement is arguing that the things being analyzed are similar or different (individually students can circle S or D) and why (individually students can underline the reason). Explain to the students that these statements are more “conversational” than the type they will write for essay assignments. However, they are meant to show that we “say” thesis statements all the time, especially when we are comparing or contrasting. 9
- Explain to the students that they will be working on a comparison-or-contrast essay. Describe the writing situation as this: “You are a college freshman and you have a hearing roommate who might be a little nervous about having a deaf roommate. Write an essay in letter form to make them more comfortable.” (You may want to write this on the board.)
- Lead a brainstorming discussion with questions (and probably answers):
- What do you think your hearing roommate is nervous about? (He probably thinks I’ll need a lot of help. She is worried that I won’t be any fun.)
- Do you think he or she thinks deaf and hearing people are mostly different or the same? (Different.)
- So what “surprising” information do you think you need to give your roommate? (That we’re really a lot alike.)
- Write on the board:
| Writing Situation: You are writing to your “nervous” hearing
college roommate.
Comparing-or-contrasting: Deaf and hearing students Question 1=Similar or Different? Similar Question 2=Why? |
- Tell the students that before they answer why, they will need to do some pre-writing and that the comparison-or-contrast chart (introduced in Workshop Six) is a good way to organize their ideas.
- Quickly reproduce the chart on the board and fill in a row or two with sample information such as below:
Deaf Students (You)
SAME
Hearing
Student (Roommate)| EVIDENCE | REASONS | CRITERIA | REASONS | EVIDENCE |
| big football fan | interest in sports | loves baseball | ||
| addicted to chocolate | loves junk food | must have chips 3 times a day |
- Encourage the students to feel free to be imaginative and have fun “creating” an imaginary roommate as they complete their charts for the next workshop.
| S | D | 1. Vote for Tom Hanson for Senator, not John Smith, because Tom’s been indicted but never convicted. |
| S | D | 2. Mom, buy me the Tommy Hilfiger jeans because they’ll last a lot longer than the Wal-Mart brand. |
| S | D | 3. If you really think about the way they both require a lot of strength and agility, ballet and football have a lot in common. |
| S | D | 4. Hey Sis, I know you’re having a hard time deciding which college to go to. But I think you’ll like UWT better than USP because it has a better English department. |
| S | D | 5. Bob, I know you refuse to eat at Burger King, but their hamburgers really are as good as McDonalds. |
| S | D | 6. Jennie, I know you think living in New Oleans is more exciting than living in Baton Rouge, but I think both cities have a lot of fun things to do. |
| S | D | 7. Really, Grandma, rap music is a lot like poetry! I mean they both rhyme and they both have important things to say about love and death and stuff. |
| S | D | 8. The humor in the second Austin Powers movie is much more sophisticated and tasteful than in the first one. |
| S | D | 9. Bill, marry Jean, not Cathy, because Jean promised to buy you a bigger boat. |
| S | D | 10. If you think about how they play basketball, and not how they look, Shaquille O’Neal and Dennis Rodman, are not as different as they might seem. |
| D | 1. Vote for Tom Hanson for Senator, not John Smith, because Tom’s been indicted but never convicted. | |
| D | 2. Mom, buy me the Tommy Hilfiger jeans because they’ll last a lot longer than the Wal-Mart brand. | |
| S | 3. If you really think about the way they both require a lot of strength and agility, ballet and football have a lot in common. | |
| D | 4. Hey Sis, I know you’re having a hard time deciding which college to go to. But I think you’ll like UWT better than USP because it has a better English department. | |
| S | 5. Bob, I know you refuse to eat at Burger King, but their hamburgers really are as good as McDonalds. | |
| S | 6. Jennie, I know you think living in New Orleans is more exciting than living in Baton Rouge, but I think both cities have a lot of fun things to do. | |
| S | 7. Really, Grandma, rap music is a lot like poetry! I mean they both rhyme and they both have important things to say about love and death and stuff. | |
| D | 8. The humor in the second Austin Powers movie is much more sophisticated and tasteful than in the first one. | |
| D | 9. Bill, marry Jean, not Cathy, because Jean promised to buy you a bigger boat. | |
| S | 10. If you think about how they play basketball, and not how they look, Shaquille O’Neal and Dennis Rodman, are not as different as they might seem. |
7 As with the evaluation essays of Workshops Two, Three, and Four, these essays may be written as group or individual essays depending on the preferences of the classroom teacher(s).
8 Students might blur the distinction between "why" and "how," but at this introductory level that is acceptable.
9 If you are short of time, this would be a good place to end this workshop. The rest of this lesson could be presented in a separate workshop, and you could work with the students on the completion of thier pre-writing charts instead of assigning the charts to be completed before the next workshop.
Workshop 6 / Workshop 7 / Workshop 8 / Workshop 9 / Workshop 10 / Credits
