Whether you are given a selection of prompts to choose from or just one, knowing something about the various sorts of writing prompts can help you understand what your teacher expects and how you should approach the project.
“Compare and Contrast”
This classic writing prompt can be quite challenging because it sounds almost as if you are being asked to compile a list of similarities and differences. While a list might be of use in the planning stage, this prompt asks you to use what you discover to arrive at a conclusion about the two works under discussion.
Example: “Compare and contrast the two endings for Dickens’ Great Expectations paying special attention to the situation of Stella at the close of the novel.”
Strategy:
Find three
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Then research the ways in which other critics have examined this theme.
Determine your argument. Will you make a claim for similarity (“A, b, and c use x in much the same way.”), difference (“A, b, and c, when dealing with x, take highly individual approaches.”), or superiority (“While a and b deal with x, c clearly demonstrates a richer, more nuanced treatment.”)?
Organize your paper around the works, making each point deal thoroughly with a discrete work. Remember that connections are of the utmost importance for this paper, so pay close attention to your transitions.
“What is the role of women/the role of class/the role of the Other as presented in this work?”
All three examples above serve as first steps to the larger world of literary theory and criticism. Writing prompts like this ask you to examine a work from a particular perspective. You may not be comfortable with this new perspective. Chances are that since your instructor has given you such an assignment, the issues in question will be at least partially covered in
In the article, “Understanding Writing Assignments: Tips and Techniques,” author Dan Melzer shares with his audience seven useful suggestions to keep in mind when starting any writing assignment. Melzer’s first tips are for readers to examine their rubrics for any key verbs that will tell writers what approach and genre their paper should have. Knowing what kind of writing your teacher wants will not only help a writer get started, it will also inform a writer what they can research to view examples. Next, he tells his readers to write for their specific audience, to make sure they know their teacher’s expectations, and to take into account what they have learned in class. In these sections, Melzer stresses the importance of asking a teacher
...ce, although both writings are interesting in their own ways, the most interesting aspect of both writings together is that they both have a similar plot and theme. It is rare that two
Tan, Amy. “Two Kinds.” Exploring Literature: Writing and Arguing About Fiction, Poetry, Drama and The Essay.4th e. Ed. Frank Madden. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. 253-261. Print.
The essay is written in a very critical style where the reader will feel like they have been wast...
What I learned rather quickly was that these very questions were all apart of why the assignment was given. What at first seemed to be a pointless exercise really answered these questions in a profound way which I want to share with you today. My hope is that you too get a renewed appreciation for writing and it’s history.
My analysis over the development of my writing throughout this semester. I will assess many aspects of my experiences with English 1301 up to this point in the semester. I will explain the ways by which I have blossomed as a writer during this time. I will provide brief examples of my work to show what I am basing the evaluation of my writing on. What my conceptions of writing were, at the start of, the semester and compare it to what they are now. I will clarify how my work this semester reflects the concepts of writing and reading we have been working on and studying in class. I will tell about what and how particular reading assignments have been influential in my growth of creative ideas. Lastly, my interpretation of what it means to be a writer, and how my experiences this semester has influenced my opinion on writing.
both stories shared similar ending and moral which is receiving enlightenment in first hand. "The
The comparison and contrast between these two stories is evident. They both developed as characters in similar settings but have different situations and outcomes. They differed in their goals and how they would achieve their goals and their mental health status sets them apart. These stories have contrast and similarities, over all the differences outweigh the comparisons.
The idea of redemption is an idea that has existed for as long as humanity has. Therefore, it should be no surprise to see the idea of redemption in the literature of many different periods, let alone the Romantic period. Throughout Great Expectations, characters experience redemption in a manner of ways. Characters go through vast changes and lives change unexpectedly. A theme and motif of redemption is clearly developed in Great Expectations. Some ways this theme of redemption is express during the book are, when Pip gets a mysterious note to go to the marches and is ambushed and almost killed, Throughout the story when Pip warms up to Magwitch, When Pip realizes how much he loves Joe and Biddy, How Pip’s redeeming factors stem from his early childhood, Ms. Havisham’s eventual realization of the error of her ways, and in society itself.
leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes and with an old rag tied
No novel is complete without a good ending. Although the introductory and middle portions are important as well, the conclusion is what the reader tends to remember most. When Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations, he crafted a work that is truly excellent the whole way through. From the moment Pip is introduced until he and Estella walk out of the garden in the final chapter, this book exhibits an uncanny ability to keep the reader wanting more. There is, however, some debate regarding the final portion of the novel. The ending that Dickens originally wrote for Great Expectations is noticeably different than the one that was subsequently published. It seems that he decided to change the final part of the novel at the request of Edward Bulwer Lytton, a close friend and fellow author. Dickens’ decision to alter the conclusion of the story has led to a debate that continues to this day. The beauty of this argument lies in the fact that each person who reads this novel is free to form his own opinion on whether Dickens was mistaken in his decision to modify the ending.
Great Expectations and Oliver Twist are representative of the works produced by Charles Dickens over his lifetime. These novels exhibit many similarities - perhaps because they both reflect painful experiences that occurred in Dickens' past.
were them of the role of the woman and where her place should be. A
"I must entreat you to pause for an instant, and go back to what you know of my childish days, and to ask yourself whether it is natural that something of the character formed in me then" - Charles Dickens
Review of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens In Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, the reader is quickly attracted to the book by the author's use of very vivid and emotional details. Dickens' structure and language allow the reader to experience life-like situations from this novel. Realistic, bold characters and an up-tempo plot keep the reader interested. Dickens uses different themes to allow the reader to compare this novel to their own lives. He allows them to add their own feelings while deeply portraying the feelings that he would have felt while reading this.