1. Compare and Contrast Essay
Expository Writing
Compare and Contrast Essay

2. Objective
Today we will write an essay in the compare/contrast format.

3. Review Compare- to examine how thing are similar
Contrast- to examine how things are different

4. Review- How to Read a Poem
Read the title
Mark off the sentences in the poem, using hash marks
Read the poem through quickly, highlighting unknown words
Read the poem again for initial understanding

5. Active Reading Answer as many of the 5 W’s as possible Who? What?
When?
Where?
Why?
Theme-
Mood-
Tone-

6. The Prompt
Compare and contrast the two poems by Edgar Lee Masters.

7. “George Gray” Edgar Lee Masters
I have studied many times
The marble which was chiseled for me—
A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.
In truth it pictures not my destination
5 But my life.
For love was offered me…and I shrank from its
disillusionment:
Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid:
Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
10 And now I know that we must lift the sail
And catch the winds of destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.
To put meaning in one’s life may end in madness.
But life without meaning is the torture
15 Of restless and vague desire—
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

8. The earth keeps some vibration going
There in your heart, and that is you.
And if the people find you can fiddle,
Why fiddle you must, for all your life.
5 What do you see, a harvest of clover?
Or a meadow to walk through to the river?
The wind’s in the corn; you rub your hands
For beeves hereafter ready for market;
or else you hear the rustle of skirts
10 Like the girls when dancing at Little Grove.
To Cooney Potter a pillar of dust
Or whirling leaves meant ruinous drouth;
They looked to me like Red-Head Sammy
Stepping it off, to “Toor-a-Loor.”
15 How could I till my forty acres
Not to speak of getting more,
With a medley of horns, bassoons and piccolos
Stirred in my brain by crows and robins
And the creak of a windmill—only these?
20 And I never started to plow in my life
That someone did not stop in the road
And take me away to a dance or picnic.
I ended up with a broken fiddle—
25 And a broken laugh, and a thousand memories,
And not a single regret.
“Fiddler Jones”
Edgar Lee Masters

9. Notes taken while rereading the poems
Topics
Fiddler Jones
George Gray
Character
artistic
lighthearted
fulfilled
talented
regretful
sad
fearful
desperate
Sim/Dif
heavy
dark
tragic
depressing
Mood
happy
light
playful
optimistic
Sim/Dif
don’t hide from life
take chances
live your life
Theme
meaning in life
use your talents
Sim/Dif
Back to
JOT

10. Step One
Give your essay a title.
Two Poems from Spoon River Anthology

11. Step Two: The Plan Things I might want to compare and or contrast-
Characters
Mood
Theme
Etc.

12. Step Three: Summary Statement
State the genre, title, and author
Give the situation or background
The characters Fiddler Jones and George Gray speak from the grave in Edgar Lee Master’s poems about life and death.

13. Step Four- What is your point? Thesis Statement
Here, the point is to compare and contrast.
What will you compare and contrast?
literary elements, events, or beliefs
Although the characters and mood in “George Gray” and “Fiddler Jones” by Edgar Lee Masters are vastly different, the theme of living life to its fullest is present in both.

14. Step 4: Make a Plan-Block it Out
Thesis + Plan
Character
Mood
Theme
Conclusion

15. Step 5: Make an informal outline- JOT
Thesis + Plan
Conclusion
Characters
Use your notes
for examples,
elaborations, and
Embedded quotes.
Mood
Use your notes
for examples,
elaborations, and
Embedded quotes
Theme
Use your notes
for examples,
elaborations, and
Embedded quotes
Click below to
review notes

16. Step 6: Use transitions
a similar, another, also, besides, like, likewise, resembles, comparable, similar to, comparison, differ, different, unlike, on the other hand, contrary, but, yet, opposite from, to contrast, dissimilar, different from, by comparison

17. Step 7: Plan a Conclusion
Remind the reader of your thesis
Repeat key information using synonyms
Nothing new or
CIP
Call to action
Insight
Prediction

18. Steps 8-12 8. Write your first draft 9. Revise your draft
10. Edit your essay
11. Make a final draft
12. Proofread/ Publish/ Share

19. Two Poems from Spoon River Anthology
“George Gray” and “Fiddler Jones” by Edgar Lee Masters are characters who speak from the grave from the book of poems called Spoon River Anthology. The main characters Fiddler Jones and George Gray are very different. Like night and day, the mood in each poem is in total contrast . Although the characters and mood in both poems are vastly different, the theme of living life to its fullest is present in both.
Fiddler Jones is the polar opposite of George Gray. While Fiddler Jones is artistic and lighthearted, George Gray is filled with regret, fear, and sadness. While fiddler Jones ended up with “a thousand memories,” George Gray lived life “without meaning.” One character embraced the human experience and the other hid from it.
Similarly, the mood in each poem is at opposite ends of the light spectrum. Fiddler Jones reflects of his life in a light and playful manner. He remembers being taken away by friends to “dance and picnic.” George Gray’s tragic life is punctuated by darkness, missed chances, and regret. He remembers hiding from life because he was afraid.
Both characters arrive at the same conclusion when reflecting on their lives; a life lived without meaning is meaningless. Even though George Gray missed his chance to experience life while living, he now sees the error of his ways. Fiddler Jones lived and felt every joy life offered because he also allowed himself to experience life’s pain.

20. Closure What are the steps for writing a compare/contrast essay?
What is the format for writing this type of essay?

21. Practice
Write your own compare and contrast essay.