Thursday, March 6th

We are almost done! And you are all doing great.

Today we talked about The Great Gatsby Chapter 4 and the final component of the required genres: the compare and contrast essay. I know it may be a bit confusing, but no worries. Just take it one step at a time.

Your poem for 2 voices should have started generating your thinking for your essay. Now you will want to expand that thinking and decide specifically how your topic from the 1920s relates to what you are comparing it to in our society today.

Then you will need to answer the questions "Why am I comparing my topic from the 1920s with this aspect from our society today?" and "Why is my comparison important?" Your answers to these two questions should give you the focus and thesis of your essay!

Next you will want to select an organizational pattern. There are 2 common ways of organizing compare contrast essays: Block Format and Point-by-Point.

Option 1: Block Format
In Block Format you follow the following pattern:

Introduction/Thesis Paragraph
This is where you will introduce your topic from the 1920s and the aspect from our society to which you are comparing it. You will tell your reader why you are comparing these two topics and why your comparison is important (You will be stating your THESIS!)

Body:
Paragraph 1-?
Topic A: give background information and relate the information back to your thesis without mentioning Topic B.
(This section will probably be at least 2 paragraphs)

Paragraph ?-?
Topic B: now give background information and relate the information back both to your thesis and Topic A.
(This section should be approximately the same number of paragraphs as Topic A)

Conclusion Paragraph(s)
Now discuss the similarities and differences between the topics and further develop your answer to why you are comparing these two topics and why your comparison is important.

You're Done!

Option 2: Point-by-Point Format
If you choice the Point-by-Point format, you will follow the following pattern.

Introduction/Thesis Paragraph
This is where you will introduce your topic from the 1920s and the aspect from our society to which you are comparing it. You will tell your reader why you are comparing these two topics and why your comparison is important (You will be stating your THESIS!)

Body:
Paragraph 1-?
In this section you will state the similarities between Topic A and Topic B on one point. Then you will go onto the next point.
(This section should be at least 2 paragraphs)

Paragraph ?-?
In this section you will state the differences between Topic A and Topic B on one point. Then you will go onto the next point.
(This section should be at least 2 paragraphs)

Conclusion Paragraph(s)
Now discuss the similarities and differences between the topics and further develop your answer to why you are comparing these two topics and why your comparison is important.

You're Done!

Okay, so to make up the punctual piece you missed you will need to write a well developed paragraph on the following prompt:
Many critics claim that The Great Gatsby is a novel about dreams and specifically The American Dream. After reading chapter 4 what is Gatsby's dream? Provide at least two (2) specific examples from the text to support your answer.

Now, for Monday:
1. You must have 3 genres: Newspaper article, Poem for 2 Voices, and one Your Choice genre: it could be a photo you find, a picture you draw, a letter, etc. It doesn't have to be difficult.
2. Read The Great Gatsby Chapters 5-6 (this is where it gets really, really, really good!)
3. Complete the Compare/Contrast planning guide using either the Block or Point-by-Point formats, but not both.
(see the sidebar links for all of the compare contrast info!)

Also, writing a compare-contrast essay for the first time can be difficult. Sometimes the thinking part of the paper is the hardest part. Please call me or come see me! I promise we can make it really easy if we work through the thinking portion together.