COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY

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COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY

• Quick Review

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Time

• 40 minutes
• 7-10 minutes to plan
• Do not write thesis in planning time!

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The Subject Matter

• compare (similarities) and contrast (differences)
  key themes and issues in two cultures within one
  chronological period.
• focus on at least two different societies or
  civilizations, which are probably interacting
  with each other in some manner or method.
• students will not have a choice about which essay
  to write.
• choose between two or three sub-themes or
  regions, but all students will write the same
  essays on relatively the same topic.

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Example

• Compare and contrast how the First World War and
  its outcomes affected TWO of the following
  regions in the period from the war to the 1930s.
• East Asia
• Middle East
• South Asia

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Thesis

• must have an acceptable thesis, which addresses
  the similarities and differences between two
  subjects or themes
• It is best in the thesis paragraph or thesis
  statement to make a significant and direct
  comparison
• It is not acceptable to simply say, the two
  civilizations were similar and different
  specify how they are similar and different

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Body Paragraphs

• The first body paragraph should examine the items
  of comparison.
• The second body paragraph should show contrasting
  aspects of the two civilizations, events, etc.
• Students must make two or more relevant, direct
  comparisons between or among societies.
• The acronym P.E.R.S.I.A.N. will help to find 3
  categories of comparison and contrast
• Within the categories, the student should compare
  and contrast the two civilizations.

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Supporting The Thesis

• Students must substantiate the thesis with
  appropriate historical evidence.
• It is not sufficient to make a statement without
  use of proof or evidence
• use evidence, which is clear and detailed
• Cite/include key vocabulary, dates, historical
  events, persons, trends, and occurrences

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Conclusion

• Not necessary
• If you have the time, conclude the essay and
  maybe put the essay in global context

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Some Pitfalls

• Wrong time periods
• Dont add in details that you arent sure of
• Not backing up arguments with specific facts,
  i.e. generalizations
• Writing in the past tense and 3rd person

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Some Pitfalls

• Using the same idea for both similarities and
  differences
• Ex afterlifeboth Sumer and Egypt believe in
  one however Egypt believes some will go to the
  Happy Field of Food or Eater of the Dead
  (crocodile god) while Sumer believes in a
  pessimistic view of the afterlife
• Ex systems of writingboth had forms of
  communication however, Egyptian hieroglyphs were
  pictures to represent and idea and Sumerian
  cuneiform was a series of wedges and shapes that
  created words.
• Lame answers
• Ex both similar b/c they are by rivers
  insteadthey both used natural resources of the
  rivers for trade as well as irrigation for their
  crops
• Ex Both are in different locations

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Prompt

• Compare and contrast the goals and outcomes of
  the revolutionary process in two of the following
  countries beginning with the dates specified
• Mexico in 1910
• China in 1911
• Russia in 1917