1. Compare/Contrast Essay

3.  Descriptive writing paints pictures with words. A variety of descriptions can be used in poetry to present levels of meaning: 1.literal meaning is the actual, everyday meaning of words. 2.figurative meaning relies on figures of speech and the symbolic nature of language.

4.  An analogy is a figurative description that compares two or more things that are similar in some ways, but are otherwise unalike. *Example – A poem that literally describes an ocean also can be read as an analogy: it may compare the ocean to life because both are vast, deep, and ever-changing.  The poem, therefore, has two levels of meaning- one literal and one figurative.

5.  Both “The Road Not Taken” and “O Captain! My Captain!” are analogies. Each compares a literal image to another, larger idea.  As you read the poems, follow these steps: 1. Record your ideas about what the literal descriptions might symbolize. 2. List some of the words and images that give you clues about the figurative meaning in a chart. 3.Compare the analogies in the two poems.

6.  A Comparison or Contrast essay is an essay in which you either compare something or contrast something.  A comparison essay is an essay in which you emphasize the similarities.  A contrast essay is an essay in which you emphasize the differences.  We use comparison and contrast thinking when we decide which college to attend or which lunch to buy.

7.  Writing to Compare Literary Works  The insights of both “The Road Not Taken” and “O Captain! My Captain!” are expressed through figurative descriptions – in the first poem, a personal experience; and in the second, a personal reaction to a historical event.  In a compare/contrast essay, explain how these figurative descriptions help convey the literal importance of the ideas stated in each poem.