Compare and Contrast Essay

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Compare and Contrast Essay

• Myths

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What is the Purpose?

• To show similarities between at least two myths
• To show the differences between two myths

• To inform
• To explain
• To analyze
• To evaluate

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Pre-Writing

• Chart

Social Customs What is important to tribe Beginnings of rituals
World on the Turtles Back
Myth of your choosing
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Venn Diagram
ALIKE
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Writing a Thesis Statement

• Review your data
• Decide to what extent you will stress the
  similarities between your two myths and to what
  extent you will stress the differences.
• C/C essay MUST discuss both similarities
  differences
• Create a thesis statement that reflects that
  decision.

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Weak Thesis Statements

• Both myths are somewhat alike and somewhat
  different.
• I can see some similarities and some differences
  too.
• Both of them involve (only a single similarity,
  no differences).
• Both myths share similarities differences in
  who did the creating, what was important to the
  tribe, and the sense of awe toward the universe.

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Better Thesis Pattern

• While both the Iroquois and the Cherokee creation
  myths celebrate animals as creators worship
  many gods, the Iroquois myth focuses more on
  family revealing what was important to their
  tribe.

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Better Thesis Pattern

• The Iroquois and Chinese creation myths reveal
  different rituals and social customs which leads
  to the extreme differences in their rules,
  guidelines and religions.

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Better Thesis Pattern

• In both The World on the Turtles Back and How
  the World Was Made, animals were responsible for
  the creation of Earth and they saw eye-to-eye
  when it came to religion, while the importance of
  family was much more emphasized in the Iroquois
  culture.

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Paragraph Organization----Point by Point
2nd paragraph 3rd paragraph 4th paragraph
Social Customs What is important to tribe Beginnings of rituals
World on the Turtles Back
Myth of your choosing
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Outline Point by Point

• Introduction
• a. attention getter/hook
• b. background information
• c. thesis
• Social Customs
• a. topic sentence
• b. WTB (1-2 sen) analysis c. your myth
  (1-2 sen) analysis
• d. so what
• e. transition
• What is Important to Tribe
• a. topic sentence
• b. WTB (1-2 sen) analysis
• c. your myth (1-2 sen) analysis
• d. so what
• e. transition

IV. Beginnings of Rituals a. topic sentence b.
WTB (1-2 sen) analysis c. your myth (1-2
sen) analysis d. so what e.
transition V. Conclusion a. emphasize major
ties b. so what? c. final thought/evaluate
importance to culture
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Transitions

• To Compare

• To Contrast

• Also
• As
• In the same way
• Like
• Likewise
• Similarly
• Comparable
• Equally
• In addition

• Although
• Even though
• However
• On the other hand
• Otherwise
• Yet
• Still
• Conversely
• As opposed to
• Different from
• Whereas