Tag Archives: comparisons

Responding to our retelling comparisons

As with the drafts of the retellings, you’ll post your drafts of Part 2, comparisons of the original story and your retelling here and then as homework for Week 7, write comments on at least 2 classmates’ drafts.

For your post:

  • title: the title you’re giving your comparative essay
  • include a link to your retelling draft
  • paste your comparative essay into the post
  • category: choose Week 7 under Homework AND draft under Project #1
  • tags: choose the tag for the story you’re writing about, plus any others you think are appropriate

In the comments you write to your classmates, reflect back to them any or all of the following:

  • what do you understand is the argument made in the comparative essay?
  • what is the thesis statement?
  • does the thesis statement reflect the argument?
  • do you have any suggestions about the examples chosen to support the argument?
  • do you have any suggestions about the organization of the argument?
  • what do you not understand?
  • what is clear and convincing to you?

Remember that in class last week we decided that the final version is due on Wednesday on our site:

  • post your retelling using the category Project #1
  • tag your post with the story you’re working with plus any other tag you find appropriate
  • for the post’s title, use your retelling’s title
  • in the post, write your retelling’s title, then paste in the retelling
  • next, leave two blank lines and then in the same post, add your comparison’s title and paste in your comparison.

I look forward to reading your Project #1 results and gathering all of your hard work into our anthology using a WordPress tool called Anthologize.

Discussion: Review for the Midterm Exam

As we think about the midterm exam, which will include both short-answer and long-answer responses, let’s start to put our readings from this semester in conversation with each other. To do this, let’s start to think about interesting points of comparison, and the ways in which each of our readings exemplify the elements of fiction we read about.

In the comments, write about a theme you see connecting two texts–either through a similarity or a difference, and what is significant about that connection. Consider what elements of fiction help make this connection more meaningful. I’ve added an example in a comment below.

In addition to writing your comment, reply to classmates’ comments with ideas about other texts that fit into the connection they’ve explored. This is a great way for us to work through all of the texts we’ve encountered this semester:

Margaret Atwood, “There Was Once” 1992

Gary Parks, “Elements of Fiction

Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour” 1894

William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily” 1930

Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Cottagette” 1910

— “The Yellow Wall-Paper” 1899

Susan Glaspell, “A Jury of Her Peers” 1917

Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown” 1835

Franz Kafka, “The Metamorphosis” 1915

Thomas Wolfe, “Only the Dead Know Brooklyn” 1935 (optional)