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Comparison Paper

Please write a 3-4-page (1000-1200 word) essay analyzing two texts: “Nonviolence: The Only Road

to Freedom” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and “The Ballot or the Bullet” by Malcolm X.

Points: 100

Formatting: double-spaced, 12-point type, times new roman font, indented paragraphs, no line

breaks, etc. The tone and style should be formal, academic and analytic. Please include MLA citations as

shown in the example paper.

For this assignment only, first person voice (I/me) is not allowed. Whether you like or dislike the

essays is ultimately unimportant: whether Joe likes or dislikes a painting makes little difference to Jane; she

wants to know how and why the painting was painted so she can like or dislike it herself. Take yourself out

of the equation, test your ability to be objective, analyze the authors’ writing on their own terms. Some

students find this difficult, but it dramatically improves one’s critical thinking skills—indeed it is the essence

of critical thinking!

Comparing two essays is more challenging than it seems. The surface-level task is to understand and

explain each writer’s thesis and arguments. On a deeper level, we are writing about the writers themselves.

We must understand each writer’s historical context, philosophy, frame of mind and vision of the world.

What are their goals? How do they differ? How do their writing styles differ? How do their arguments

inform their writing styles? Often we can intuitively know the answers to these questions, but the key is to

provide evidence from the texts that proves one’s understanding is correct and verifiable.

Step 1: Reading. First read the essays for enjoyment, discovering what the writers want to convey.

Bounce it off yourself: do you agree or disagree with the ideas and arguments, and why? Now read it a

second time with a pencil so you can underline sentences and make notes in the margins. The purpose of a

second reading is to discover how the writer wrote the piece and mark important and interesting sentences.

Step 2: Themes. Make a list of the themes involved in each essay, and find one that you want to

compare across both writers. Possibilities include nonviolence, self-defense, civil rights, voting, integration,
segregation, boycotts, the economy, and so on. Now find one quote from each writer that discusses that

theme, paste those quotes into your paper, then write an annotation for each, describing meaning of the quote

and explaining how it will fit into your paper.

Step 3: Style. Read “Handout 25 Rhetorical Devices” to get a sense for rhetorical devices, then reread

the essays looking for rhetorical devices and underlining quotes that illustrate those techniques. Double

check that you have the correct device and definition. Triple-check! Ask yourself why the writer made these

choices. Note any questions and comments in the margins—the better your notes, the easier the writing will

be. Now pick one quote from each author, paste them into your paper, and create annotations describing how

each quote exemplifies the given technique, and why this technique supports the writer’s argument.

For example, Malcolm X often uses alliteration: “Ballot or Bullet.” Why does he do this? What effect

did this have on his audience? Why was this a good choice in this context? Avoid statements like, “The

author uses alliteration to convince readers his ideas are good.” Instead be more specific, and therefore more

descriptive and analytical: “By using alliteration, Malcolm X creates a sense of cleverness of language that

demonstrates his intelligence and facilitates the rhythmic, inspiring power of his ideas about unfair social

structures.” Replace vague words with specific details.

Step 4: Working Thesis. How do the writers’ rhetorical styles advance their ideas? Feel free to free-

write and/or outline to generate ideas. The point is to discover your purpose in writing the essay, a larger

point that unites these writers’ themes and styles into a single idea—this will become your thesis. A good

thesis statement is specific, arguable and multi-dimensional; it creates a synthesis, a third understanding, a

third argument—yours—that uses the two texts as a springboard for some larger idea, often bringing the

ideas into today’s world. That could be a broader philosophic point, a particular perspective on an issue, a

historical analysis, a socio/economic idea, or an application of the ideas in a modern context. For example,

one might argue that King’s classical style demonstrates the calm needed to change the power structure

without a violent revolution. Find some way to connect their style with their ideas.

Note: Thesis statements don’t appear fully formed—your thesis will change as you write, but it’s

helpful to come up with a working thesis to keep your writing on track; once you reach your conclusion,
revise your thesis and intro to match the conclusion.

Step 5: Drafting. Once you collected your thoughts, found a working thesis, did some freewriting and

possibly drew up an outline, it’s time to begin writing. Pretend your reader has not read the original essays,

but wants to know what they contain and how they are written. Introduce your reader to each essay and

describe their main points. Define the themes and techniques you want to discuss. Be sure to define each

rhetorical technique in your own words as it relates to this author in this text—do not simply repeat the

dictionary definition.

Now expand your quotes/annotations and find transitions from one idea to the next using your thesis as

a guide.

Your conclusion should bring together both writers and send your reader into the future by describing

why these ideas matter in today’s world and how a modern reader can incorporate this understanding into

their lives and society at large. Your conclusion will likely include better ideas than your working thesis, so

rewrite your intro/thesis to match your conclusion.

Step 6: Editing. Once you’ve got a full draft written, reread it several times, looking for anything to

cut, expand on, smooth out or rearrange. You should reread any important piece of writing at least ten times.

When you edit, pretend you are a new reader who has no idea what you will say next. This is difficult, so

writing early will allow you to put it aside for a few days, forget it and return with a fresh perspective.

A ‘C’ paper compares these two writers in two ways (one stylistic, one thematic), but there may be

editing issues (clarity, logic, grammar, evidence, structure, depth of thought) that mean more work was

needed to bring the paper to the next level.

A ‘B’ paper compares these two writers in both ways, finds a unifying thesis, has few editing issues,

and avoids basic flip-flopping between the two writers.

An ‘A’ paper completes all the requirements of a ‘B’ paper, has no editing or structural issues, and

goes beyond the requirements in a manner only possible for that writer.

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