1. Comparative essays:
Comparative essays establish a level of similarity (there has to be one) and then examines how two texts differ in form, content, or intention.

2. Template:
Both A and B do/have/use/explore X. While AA does so in order to celebrate/question /undermine/ encourage/critique XX, BB does so in order to celebrate/question/undermine/ encourage/critique YY.

3. Both Mary Braddon in Lady Audley’s Secret and Stella Duffy in Beneath the Blond explore female criminality in relation to social constructions of femininity. Braddon employs sensationalist plot details and references to Pre-Raphaelite paintings in order to criticize 19th-Century stereotypes of the Fallen Woman. Duffy, however, strategically plays with the conventions of detective fiction and parodies several character types in order to challenge readers’ essentialist assumptions about gender and sexuality.

4. Your essay then must examine both texts in relation to your argument and in relation to each other.
Introduction:
Para: A and B
Para: A and B (continued until you are done)
Conclusion

5. OR –
Intro
Para - Text A
Para – Text B
Para – Text A and B
Para – Text A
Continue until done
Conclusion

6. Your essay title – we must get beyond essay #1 or Gender in Rebecca
Your essay title – we must get beyond essay #1 or Gender in Rebecca. These are boring.
A good title for an essay should do two things; it should mention or allude to the primary texts and it should be intriguing. It should alert the reader to the topic of the paper in a way that makes the reader want to find out more.

7. Example of a mediocre title:
“Ageism in Bram Stoker’s Dracula”
Examples of excellent titles:
“Dracula’s Dentures: Ageism and Victorian Self-Image” or
“Aging Sucks: The Cult of Youth in Bram Stoker’s Dracula”

8. Developing a Literary Argument:
consider your purpose (analysis, comparison/contrast, explication)
narrow your topic to fit the assignment
establish a working thesis (you will need this to get started, and it will likely become stronger

9. build your argument
claims
evidence
organization
think about your tone – this is an essay, not a conversation or a diary entry or a newspaper article

10. Essay check-list:
Is your essay’s purpose clear?
Is the topic narrow enough?
Is the thesis thought-provoking and specific?
Does your essay prove your thesis?
Have you included quotes?
Have you explained how those quotes prove your argument?
Have you avoided excessive plot summary and description?

11. Have you properly cited your information?
Is your argument logically organized?
Are similar ideas grouped together?
Have you used transitional words to connect paragraphs?
Is your language (grammar, spelling, tone) clean and clear?