1. Essay Overview

2. Compare and contrast two distinct regions of the United States and Canada. Support your ideas with specific examples from your research.

3.  Your essay should have a creative title ◦ Hint: U.S. and Canada Essay is not a great idea

4.  Facts/Statistics  Story  Quote  Rhetorical Question

5.  The main idea of your paper: ◦ For example:  The Core Provinces of Canada and Southern region of the United States of America have some similarities and many differences.

6.  One sentence that previews the main ideas of your body paragraphs. ◦ How you set up your paper is up to you. You may have a paragraph defining the two regions, a paragraph with similarities and a paragraph of differences. ◦ For example:  After defining the regions of the Core Provinces and the South, one can see how the similarities are few and the differences are many.  Paragraph One – defining the regions  Paragraph Two – similarities  Paragraph Three – differences

7.  The countries of the United States and Canada are geographical neighbors, but their physical and cultural geography are very distinct. The Core Provinces of Canada and Southern region of the United States have some similarities and many differences. After defining the regions of the Core Provinces and the South, one can see how the similarities are few and the differences are many.

8.  Topic sentence to introduce the main idea  Supporting ideas and evidence  Think about a transition into the next paragraph

9.  Summarize the main ideas of your paper  Restate your thesis in new words

10.  Note that we are not requiring parenthetical citations for your paraphrasing. That is why this is a Works “Referenced” and not a Works Cited. You are referencing your research, not citing it.  Internet citations may be done on www.easybib.com www.easybib.com ◦ Do not assume the citation is correct – double check everything.  Remember hanging indents and alphabetical order

11.  Atlas Citation ◦ The Nystrom World Atlas. Indianapolis: Herff Jones Education Division, 2006. Print.  Textbook Citation ◦ Arreola, Daniel D. World Geography. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2003. Print.

12.  A sample paper is available to double-check MLA formatting. ◦ 1” margins ◦ Double space the entire paper ◦ Header with your last name and page number ◦ Upper left of the first page with:  Your name  Teacher name  Class Title  Date DUE in MLA format – date month year 13 October 2010