This week, your assignment will be to write a three-page compare and contrast essay. Typically, I have made this an open topic, but I have received as many dog and cat comparisons that I want to see in my lifetime; and by the way, dogs rule!
As a refresher: A compare / contrast essay should compare two or more things. You will be comparing the similarities and contrasting the differences. This essay should not only inform the reader—that’s me—but should also evaluate the items you are using. Give me specific, concrete examples to support your points.
As I mentioned, this is not an open topic. As Americans, we share this North American continent with Canada and Mexico. I want you to compare and contrast two aspects of the culture of each country. That could be education, family life, religion, immigration, language, art, or politics, etc. If you have any questions as to the appropriateness of what items to choose, please ask me. Canadian rap has not really taken off, so it probably should be stroked off your list.
You may set up your document in either of the following ways: subject by subject or point by point.
Subject by subject sample outline:
1. Introduction
2. Body:
A. Canada:
i. Politics
ii. Language
B. U.S.
i. Politics
ii. Language
C. Mexico
i. Politics
ii. Language
3. Conclusion
Point by Point sample outline:
1. Introduction
2. Body:
A. Education
i. Canada
ii. U.S.
iii. Mexico
B. Family Life
i. Canada
ii. U.S.
iii. Mexico
3. Conclusion
Choose whichever outline you prefer, but the point of this essay is not just to practice the compare / contrast format, but to think about what our neighboring cultures experience in day-to-day living, which might be a different or similar experience to your own.
How many of you think that snow magically appears as soon as you cross the Canadian border? And do you know the significance of Prince Edward Island? Big hint: It’s not just where Anne of Green Gables lives. Does the 49th parallel sound in any way familiar to you; and no, it has nothing to do with gymnastics. It has more to do with good fences making good neighbors. Not all Canadians rub noses; not all Canadians ski or eat Canadian bacon; and, trust me, they are not all nice! So what are they all about, these grand neighbors to the North?
How about our Southern neighbors? How many of you feel that when speaking English to a Spanish-speaking person if you just talk a bit louder, you will make them understand? Do you think as soon as you cross the border, Mexico is one hot desert? You are mistaken: That’s Palmdale! Mexico has varied landscapes, including pine forests and snow at higher elevations. When they get too much snow, they ship it to the Canadian border so it’s the first thing American tourists see. Mexicans are not all drug dealers (Haven’t you watched Tony Soprano?); they don’t all have tortillas with Mother Mary’s face in it; they don’t all salsa dance; and most hear . . . perfectly . . . fine. Take the time to find out who your neighbors are.
In order to write this essay and make it replete with concrete examples you will need to do some research. Here are some notes about that:
· Wikipedia is not considered an academic site. If I see it on your Works Cited page, your paper just made the bottom of my bird cage.
· If your site has anything in it about Bubba from Montana, it is probably not credible. Save that for creative writing. Instead, prefer sites with dot gov or dot edu at the end of the URL.
· If you plagiarize your source, I will know it. Even though I do not have Turnitin.com, like the great community college down the street, Google is an amazing search engine. If you plagiarize globally, as a patchwork, or incrementally, you just failed my course. Come by my office; I have applications for Jack-in-the-Box.
· There are other credible sources other than the Internet. They are called books.
Plan ahead and as always submit your essay in MLA format. I hope you enjoy this chance to study the other cultures that share your continent. Next week, we will be starting the poetry section. Extra credit is available for those successful in suppressing groans.
Class dismissed.
You never fail to make me laugh! I love your title, and I think that you chose a good subject for your students' compare and contrast papers! I love how you counteract all the common stereotypes of both Canadians and Mexicans, which other wise would have shown up in at least one person's paper! And once again, I love your sarcastic tone that you take, while providing helpful information.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you provide two different outlines to give your students help getting their thoughts and papers organized. I would say that the first outline is probably a better choice for a compare and contrast essay, though. It's easier to compare the countries under each subject, that to compare subjects under each country, if that makes any sense. I still think that you wold make an excellent teacher. It's a good idea to tell your students what sites they should look at--ones ending in ".gov" or ".edu" since many students have no clue where to look for information. I have also found, that while I cannot use Wikipedia, I can still look at the article's sources websites, and quite often I find some very good, credible information.
Once again, thank you for being such an interesting writer to read. I always look forward to your blogs, and I often share them with my family.
Amusing as always. The paper topic that you chose looks fun and educational. Even I would do it just for fun because I love learning about different cultures. The outlines that you set up were great too. Being a tutor in the Learning Center, I know what all the desks (math lab, reading, writing, and general tutoring) go through when it comes to the standards of education. A cringe worthy percentage of students enter Antelope Valley College with subpar English and math skills. Many of them do not know how to start an essay – least of all format one! By providing the outline, students would have a better idea of how to approach an assignment. Of course there are those students who still would not know how to start an essay regardless of all the help given to them.
ReplyDeleteI like your “debunking” of the American perception of Canada and Mexico. Although America is deemed a global super power, we are very much closed off to the rest of the world. Not many people would believe that it snows in Iran!
Yes, Wikipedia is a horrible source for writing papers. I am glad that so many are against the use of it. Google is a good place to look for plagiarizing as well. You can type in a phrase and Google finds it right away.
When I came to the States, it was funny what people thought about Canada--even those relatively close to the border. I had someone tell me that they thought PEI belonged to the States now--like, they bought one of our provinces somehow. I had folks ask me all the time about someone they knew, say in B.C.; they would ask me if I had ever met them. It's only 3000 miles away! :-) The snow across the border is something someone really said to me. I can't remember if it was them or some friends, but whoever it was actually came in the middle of the summer to the border at Detroit and thought they could go skiing in Ontario. Funny stuff! It's great writing material!
ReplyDeleteI love the way you write. Every time I read one of your blogs I wish you were my teacher in high school! I also might have learned something about Canada. I think that’s one of the countries that when we talk about other cultures often gets left behind. Lots of people forget that Canadians have different customs, economic problems, political leaders and influences, and even different TV media.
ReplyDeleteAlso, there are so many misconceptions of Mexico, such as the ones that you noted. Sadly, I think a lot of Americans are really stereotypical. It’s even worse because we’re so closely connected to these two countries that. We talk about them like they might as well be different planets, millions of miles away from each other when in reality we have more in common than most think.
On top of providing what could be a very beneficial lesson via an essay, I like that you give examples of the layout. By providing that sort of set up you can kind of instill in writers the basic groundwork. It helps with writers block and makes sure that there is no rambling and falling off track with the essay.