Critieria

WR098 G2 Fall 2013

Criteria for Paper 2: Comparative Analysis Essay

Write a 4-6-page essay analyzing one of the following two pairs of articles from The Norton Mix in a comparative and contrastive way: “Drugs: Case for Legalizing Marijuana,” by Gore Vidal, and “Should Drugs Be Legalized?” by William Bennett; or “Girls Against Boys,” by Katha Pollitt, and “Men, Women, Sex, and Darwin,” by Natalie Angier. (Remember that you may not write about Bennett/Vidal if you presented on one of these authors.) You are invited and encouraged to make connections with any of the other authors whose articles you have read or heard about in oral presentations, and you may also refer to outside sources. Bring your first draft to class on Friday, October 25, for peer editing. You should also bring Rules for Writers on that day so that you can refer to the peer-editing checklists when reviewing your classmate’s essay.

Recommended tutoring session:

• You are encouraged to make an appointment with a tutor at the Writing Center for help in developing your essay. You may also meet with me in class or during office hours.

In the essay you should:

• Include both “they say” and “I say,” in your introduction, body, and conclusion

• Closely analyze distinct features of each text: focus on content, but consider rhetorical features as well

• Provide solid evidence (specific textual examples) to support your points

• Frame your comparison within a larger argument or thesis that explains what the significance of this comparison/contrast is

Your essay must:

• Include your name, my name, the course name, and the essay and draft number

• Be the required length (4-6pp. doublespaced), with page numbers

• Have a title

• Begin with an introduction that refers clearly to both texts by author and title and contains a strong thesis statement expressing a debatable claim that you want to prove in the course of your essay

• Contain a brief...