An American Childhood

Compare & Contrast Essay

Compare and contrast your experiences with books with the personal experience that Annie Dillard describes in the chapter of An American Childhood that is posted on Mrs. Monaghan’s site. Use rich examples from the Dillard chapter and from your own life to illustrate your ideas.

This is a personal essay much like the chapter in An American Childhood. We will use the same style and point-of-view that Dillard uses

You do not need to formally complete these steps, but you might find them helpful as you think about the essay.

Prewriting

Answer the following questions before you begin. The answers to these questions are your pre-writing activity.

  1. Dillard discusses at length the subject matter of the books read by her and her peers. What is the main subject matter of the books she read? What values or human characteristics do they glorify and condemn?
  1. What is main subject matter of the books that you read and that your generation reads? What are they literally about? What values or human characteristics do they glorify and condemn? Why do you think this subject matter and these values are read by your generation?
  1. Dillard talks about learning to become a “skilled bombardier”, being able to “run a submarine with one hand” (180). What “skills” do the books that you read (and that your generation reads) teach you? Be specific. Pick a couple books and explain what “skills” you and others have acquired from them.
  1. What book do you envy younger kids for being able to read for the first time?
  1. What do you seek in books?
  1. What has your reading prepared you to do: join the Resistance and survive the Warsaw Ghetto or to marry (or be) Holden Caulfield’s room-mate?

Thesis-writing, Idea-Drafting/Outlining

Identify the main similarities and differences in your reading experiences. Have you read some of the same books? Did you feel the same way about them? Did you learn “skills” from reading books? The same skills as her? Has being a boy or living in a different time lead you to have a different experience with books? Do you read only fantasy while she reads mainly historical fiction?

Thesis: Is your experience more similar or different? WHY? What is the basis or cause of your similarities and differences?

Pick your basis for comparison and contrast. Gather evidence for your experiences. Name books, describe emotions, identify skills.

Second Draft

Read the compare-contrast 5.0 anchor paper that compares the writer’s experience with her dreams to the experience of the character Janie from Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ask Mrs. Monaghan to email this to you if you want to read it.

What kinds of details make the anchor paper stand out? Work on adding those kinds of details to your draft.

Third Draft

Use the Purdue On-Line Writing Lab materials on Transitional Words and Phrases and Active and Passive Voice. Carefully proofread your essay and then give it to at least two classmates or adults to edit using the following questions:

  1. Does it compare and contrast?
  2. Does it include detailed evidence for both your experience and Annie Dillard’s?
  3. Does the reason for the difference and similarity make sense? (Does the thesis make sense?) Is the thesis carried on throughout the essay?
  4. Do the word choices and point-of-view contribute to the personal tone? Is it too informal? Too formal? Just right?

Final Draft Due

Double-spaced, 10-point font, page numbers cited for Dillard references