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My comparative essay isn't looking too good...


Nolan

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So I have to write my comparative essay between House of the Spirits and Chronicle of a Death Foretold. I have chosen 'the role and significance of isolation' in the two stories and I have two main points I want to focus on. The first is isolation of a character (Esteban Trueba and Santiago Nasar respectively) and perhaps scoping over whether or not it is voluntarily. The second point is isolation in terms of location (Tres Marias and the town in which Chronicle is set and how it affects the storyline. Does anyone have any suggestions for laying it out? Or points to cover? Or anything? Help would be very appreciated.

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Let's say your thesis was something like this: In Book 1 and Book 2 isolation presents itself in individual characters as well as in location, and this isolation leads to [insert significance here].

I haven't read the books, by the way.

The most logical thing I see would be to spend the first body paragraph talking about the isolation each character undergoes. What you want to do is not summarize, but use your examples to cover plot [not so important] and support your argument [more important, obviously]. Let's say isolation in both books leads to self-discovery. All the while, you want to try to transition as seamlessly as possible.

Then next body paragraph, talk about the isloated towns and the significance. It'd be nice if the significances were the same or similar to the significance from the first paragraph. AKA, the isloation in town allows the characters to delve deeper in their minds and grow as humans [Keep in mind I haven't read the books and have no idea what I'm talking about lol].

Then conclusion [Oh yeah and the intro in the beginning lol. I started my intro with a quote intricately related to my thesis for my book, if that helps]

Hope this helps

Edit: If this is your world lit paper, keep in mind you want to aim for 1300-1500 words [the word range is actually 1000-1500 though]

Edited by sweetnsimple786
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Basically to guarantee to score high (that is with great language skills), you follow something along the lines of this:

Introduction (with thesis statement)

Idea 1 (Book X)

Idea 2 (Book Y)

Idea 3 (Book X)

Idea 4 (Book Y)

Conclusion (without constant restating what you have already said, try reach further conclusion and appreciation of work)

Basically, that technique is to tackle one point and compare AND contrast in both works. Be careful of the transition, try use conjunction words. Be creative, and don’t be repetitive good Luck

Edited by dexter
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I think other replies have pretty much covered it, but I just want to say, remember to focus on the effects of literary techniques! Some people find it so easy to forget when they're focusing on character or message. Look through the WL marking criteria to make sure you hit all of them!

Good luck with your essay :P

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