Essay: Comparison and Contrast
After receiving feedback from your prewriting assignment, complete this assignment following the instructions on this page. Save a copy of your document, and submit it for grading. To submit your graded project, proceed to the Graded Assignment page in the course. Follow the instructions provided to upload the file and submit it for grading.
Be sure to keep a backup copy of any files you submit to the school!
After your assignment has been graded, feedback will be available on the Lesson Assignment page within the course. It will have an option to download the feedback from the instructor.
Objective
To prepare a 1,000–1,200 word comparison-and-contrast essay based on elements from the Comparison and Contrast Prewriting assignment.
Note: You may not change your topic from the prewriting. You may not submit this essay until you’ve received your grade and instructor feedback on your prewriting exam. While you’re waiting for your prewriting review, you should do the following:
- Review the reading assignment about Comparison and Contrast and the provided example.
- Prepare a rough draft of your Comparison and Contrast essay so that you’re ready to revise when you receive feedback on your prewriting.
For this essay, you’ll do the following:
- Use prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing to write a formal, college-level essay
- Distinguish among different patterns of development.
- Apply an appropriate pattern of development to a specific purpose and audience
- Write effective thesis statements
- Develop paragraphs using topic sentences, adequate detail, supporting evidence, and transitions
- Apply the conventions of standard written American English to produce correct, well-written essays
Along the right-hand side of your evaluated exam, you should see marginal or “bubble” comments from your instructor. You should also see a series of highlighted numbers in the evaluation chart identifying the rating you earned on each trait. If you don’t see this feedback, click on the “View” tab and “Print Layout” or click on “Review” and the option “Final Showing Markup.” If you still can’t see the feedback, contact the school for the complete evaluation.
Topic
The development of your topic will depend on the topic you’ve chosen and the points you determined during the prewriting assignment.
Tip for Success: Be sure to check out the resources available to you in
the Learning Resource Center for videos and worksheets to help you complete this assignment.
Writing Your Essay
Your prewriting will require major reorganization and revision, including the following:
- An introductory paragraph with a thesis statement that addresses the purpose of the essay Remember that your thesis statement must be the last sentence of your introductory paragraph.
- Three to five body paragraphs that begin with topic sentences and clearly relate to and support the thesis statement as well as combine elements from the narrative and process prewriting paragraphs
- A conclusion that reinforces the thesis statement and the purpose of the essay
Essays must be typed and double-spaced using a standard 12-point font and left justification. Use 1-inch margins at the top and bottom and 1.25-inch margins for the left and right sides of the document. Each page must have a properly formatted header containing your name, student number, exam number (355105), page number, mailing address, and email address. Save your essay as a .doc, .docx, or .rtf file regardless of the word processing program you use.
Evaluation Rubric
Your instructor will evaluate your work for your comparison-and-contrast essay based on the following rubric.
| Comparison and Contrast Essay |
| Advanced— Score of 100% |
The essay effectively addresses the purpose of the assignment and the requirements of the prompt.
- The essay provides a clear thesis statement that effectively introduces the topic, states a claim, and previews the main points of the essay.
- The essay provides specific, relevant evidence to illustrate ideas and support the thesis in ways that are fresh, insightful, and engaging and uses comparison and contrast to convey ideas.
- The essay includes 2–3 categories for comparison and contrast to effectively support the thesis statement.
- The essay effectively includes an introduction paragraph with a thesis statement that engages the reader, uses topic sentences to clearly define paragraphs, uses evidence that supports the thesis statement and topic sentences, and includes a conclusion that reinforces the thesis.
- The essay effectively addresses the audience through an appropriate tone and point of view and if outside sources were used, includes correct MLA formatting.
- The essay is mostly free of errors in sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and word choice while meeting the length requirement (1,000–1,200 words) and formatting requirements using the correct header, font, and margins.
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| Proficient— Score of 85% |
The essay adequately addresses the purpose of the assignment and the requirements of the prompt.
- The essay provides a thesis statement that introduces the topic and the claim is articulated, but the main points are not outlined explicitly.
- The essay provides specific evidence to illustrate ideas and support the thesis, though much of the information is obvious, and uses comparison and contrast to adequately convey ideas.
- The essay includes 2-3 categories but the categories could be more specific or better used for comparison and contrast and in support of the thesis statement.
- The essay includes an introduction with thesis statement, but the introduction may not engage the reader. Most evidence provided is relevant to the body paragraphs, thesis statement, and the topic sentences. The conclusion restates the thesis, but may lack a satisfactory ending.
- The essay adequately addresses the audience through an appropriate tone and point of view and if outside sources were used, includes mostly correct MLA formatting.
- The essay is reasonably free of errors in sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and word choice and may just fall short of or exceed the length requirements, however the essay is formatted using the correct header, font, and margins, though some errors may be present.
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| Developing— Score of 70% |
The essay partially addresses the purpose of the assignment and the requirements of the prompt.
- The essay provides a thesis statement that is factual but offers no claim or assertion. The thesis provides direction for the essay, but does not explicitly outline main points.
- The essay offers some specific evidence to illustrate ideas and support the thesis, though much of the information is obvious, and attempts to use comparison and contrast, though the essay lacks consistency.
- The essay includes some categories for comparison and contrast, but the categories could be more specific or better used for comparison and contrast and/or do not fully support the thesis statement.
- The essay includes an introduction that is underdeveloped, body paragraphs with weak topic sentences that may lack focus, logical development or evidence relevant to the thesis, and a conclusion that is underdeveloped.
- The essay illustrates some awareness of audience but employs colloquial or idiomatic language, lacking appropriate tone and/or outside sources were used but not correctly formatted using MLA format.
- The essay includes errors in sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and word choice, some of which may interfere with meaning, and may fall short of or exceed the length requirements due to repetitive and unengaging content, while not fully addressing the topic and purpose. The essay may not employ the correct formatting.
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| Emerging— Score of 60% |
The essay minimally addresses the purpose of the assignment and the requirements of the prompt.
- The essay attempts a thesis statement, but it is factual and/or not related to the topic.
- The essay offers general evidence and includes minimal comparison and contrast elements, but it does not address the topic or purpose.
- The essay minimally includes categories for comparison and contrast, but the categories are not specific or used for comparison and contrast and/or do not support the thesis statement.
- The essay has an introduction that does not engage the reader, includes minimally defined main ideas, isn’t organized into paragraphs, lacks topic sentences, lacks evidence that relates to the thesis, lacks transitions, and/or lacks a conclusion.
- The essay addresses the appropriate audience but does not use an appropriate tone. If used, outside sources are not correctly cited using MLA format.
- The essay contains some errors in sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and word choice, making it difficult for the reader to follow and comprehend. The essay also does not meet or significantly exceeds the length requirement and does not apply the correct formatting.
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| Not Developed— Score of 50% |
The essay does not address the purpose of the assignment or the requirements of the prompt.
- The essay does not offer a thesis statement.
- The essay does not provide specific, relevant evidence to illustrate ideas and support the thesis and does not employ comparison and contrast to convey ideas.
- The essay does not include categories for comparison and contrast, and/or the categories do not fully support the thesis statement.
- The essay has an introduction that does not engage the reader, lacks clearly defined main ideas, isn’t organized into paragraphs, lacks evidence that relates to the thesis, lacks transitions, and/or lacks a conclusion.
- The essay does not address the appropriate audience and does not use an appropriate tone. If used, outside sources are not cited using MLA format correctly.
- The essay contains numerous errors in sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and word choice, making it difficult for the reader to follow and comprehend, while also not meeting the length and/or formatting requirements.
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