COMPARATIVE ESSAY QUICK TIPS BEST QUOTES TO KNOW o Fair is foul and foul is fair. The Weird Sisters o Macbeth does murder sleep! Macbeth o unsex me here, / And fill me from the crown to the toe topful / Of direst cruelty! Lady Macbeth o False face must hide what the false heart doth know. Macbeth o God s mercy is better than that of these monsters Jonathan, o What manner of man is this Jonathan (questioning if Dracula is a monster) o Safety and the assurance of safety are things of the past. Jonathan o What it was, whether man or beast, I could not tell. Mina (when she sees a dark figure over Lucy on a bench) THEMES TO KNOW o Efforts and intentions of the good will always foil the plan of the evil. o Things are not always what they seem. o Efforts and intentions of the good will always foil the plan of the evil. o Even the smallest glimer of hope can give you the power to conquer the greatest darkness. BEST CHARACTERS TO USE o Macbeth o Lady Macbeth o Macduff o Banquo o Jonathan
o Mina o Lucy o Dracula o Renfield English 3201 Comparative Essay Quick Tips Emily V. Walsh PROMINENT CONFLICTS o Internal Macbeth Lady Macbeth o Interpersonal Macbeth/Lady Macbeth vs. Everyone o Interpersonal Dracula vs. Everyone o Internal Jonathan (at the beginning) Mina Seward (about Lucy s death) HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR ANSWER 5 Paragraphs PRGH 1: Introduction o State the titles and author s of both works o Restate the question in your own words o Briefly state you main points (limit to 1 sentence, between 10 and 20 words) PRGH 2: Macbeth o State how Macbeth (the play) supports the question in a topic sentence. o Write an example o Explain why the example supports the question (there has to be a reason why you chose to use it) o Repeat the last two steps 2 more times so you have a total of 3 explained examples o Restate the topic sentence of the paragraph in different words PRGH 3: Dracula
o State how Dracula (the novel) supports the question in a topic sentence. o Write an example o Explain why the example supports the question (there has to be a reason why you chose to use it) o Repeat the last two steps 2 more times so you have a total of 3 explained examples o Restate the topic sentence of the paragraph in different words PRGH 4: Compare o State that they are similar o Try to refer back to your examples in pairs o Describe how there are similar or different NOTE: DO NOT describe how they are different in a sentence that is longer than 10 words. FOCUS on how they are the same, but you can include brief sentences of differences. Most of the time, what is being developed is simlar while the way it is developed is different. PRGH 5: Conclusion o Start with: In conclusion ; As one can see ; Overall ; etc. (a conclusive transition) o Restate your main points (limit to one sentence, between 10 and 20 words o Restate the question in your own words FIXES TO THE MOST COMMON MISTAKES STUDENTS MAKE WHEN WRITING ESSAYS 1. Writing Titles and Authors Titles of long/large literary works (such as novels, plays) must be italicized when typed and underlined when written. Quotation marks are for the titles of short works (such as a poem, short story). When writing the name of who wrote anything, DO NOT put a colon after the word by. Macbeth by: Shakespeare Macbeth by Shakespeare OR Macbeth by Shakespeare 2. Bad Sentence Structure No sentence should be longer than about 20 words
Any point you feel is super important should be under 10 words. DO NOT RAMBLE, you ll end up writing run-on sentences and you will lose marks 3. Spelling Errors Don t use any words you aren t 100% sure on how to spell. 4. Improper Referencing Be sure of your word choice when describing scenes and situations DO NOT refer to the Weird Sisters as witches! They are called Weird Sisters 6 times and witches only once in the play. DO NOT refer to ANY characters as major or minor characters. Different teachers have completely different opinions on which characters are major and minor, so play it safe and don t say it! 5. Grammar Mistakes Use no more than 4 commas in a sentence, and only use them to separate points, ideas or lists. Use a colon just before listing. Use a semi-colon to split a sentence in to two different but still related points. Use a period, exclamations point or questions mark at the end of all thoughts. INDENT at the beginning of every paragraph! Uppercase the first letter of Names, Places, Titles. Do not create a dangling participle (fancy word for confusing sentence ). Example: o After rotting in the cellar for weeks, my brother brought up some oranges. Makes no sense! o My brother brought up some oranges that had been rotting in the cellar for weeks. Makes sense! A lot is two words, not one! Learn the differences between the following words: o Your vs. You re o It s vs. Its o There vs. Their vs. They re o Affect vs Effect o Then vs. Than o Loose vs. Lose
o Me vs. Myself vs. I o Could vs. Would vs. Should o Are vs. Our o Complement vs. Compliment o Fewer vs. Less o Historic vs. Historical o Whether vs. Weather o Principal vs. Principle o Literal vs. Figurative o Definitely vs. Defiantly English 3201 Comparative Essay Quick Tips Emily V. Walsh Also, check out these great infographics from The Oatmeal on grammar! http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe# http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling http://www.groovypinkblog.com/2012/06/28/grammar-infographicremember/