Paper details
The comparative analysis requires the writer to express his or her opinion by showing how two major ideas work in
conjunction with one another to support this opinion. It is marked by varied types of support (reason, examples,
facts/statistics, personal observation (minor personal anecdotes can be used), and/or expert testimony). For this
assignment you must communicate your opinion about education in the United States by comparing and/or contrasting.
Because this is a short paper, you may not be able to compare and contrast, so focusing on the comparison or the contrast
may work better for you.
Topics that you may wish to consider are (you are not required to choose from these prompts; if there is some other angle
that you like, pursue it):
compare or contrast the benefits of a 2year
program over a 4year
program,
compare the validity of one author’s argument over another’s,
discuss how college graduates are better prepared than those with no college degree, or
discuss how people perceive college graduates and people who have not completed a college degree program.
The final essay must be a 9501,050
word comparative analysis (this does not include the heading, title, or Works Cited
list). Be sure to include a highlighted (bold, underline, or italics) thesis statement and appropriate paragraph designations.
As the writer, you decide how many paragraphs you need to create a unified essay. Additionally, this is not a personal
writing assignment; therefore, you must communicate your ideas using third person (you may include personal anecdotes,
which are 1st person, but this should not be the bulk of your support; avoid 1st person overgeneralizations âWe =
Americansâ).
You are required to incorporate ideas from TWO (no more, no less) of the sources that I presented: any of the essays or
articles from chapter 16 of They Say, I Say, âIs College the Best Option?â; any of the clips that I provided; the United States’
Department of Education âFast Facts: Graduation Rates (Links to an external site.)â and âFast Facts: Employment Rates of
College Graduates (Links to an external site.),â or the documentary Ivory Tow (Links to an external site.)er. DO NOT DO
EXTERNAL RESEARCH. Points will be deducted for essays that reference sources other than those introduced in this
class. This is your paper; therefore, you must decide when and how to integrate the source material (summarize,
paraphrase, or quote), but you are limited to no more than six summaries or paraphrases and no more than three direct
quotes. Also, make sure that you include intext
citations where appropriate
