Additional Writing Assignments

1. Listen to two different recordings of the same piece of music as performed by two different groups, orchestras, or singers. What elements of the music does each stress? What contrasting attitudes toward the music do you detect? In an essay, compare and contrast these versions.

2. With a classmate or small group, choose a topic, problem, or campus issue about which your views differ to some extent. Agree on several main points of contrast that you want each writer to consider. Then have each person write a paragraph summing up his or her point of view, concentrating on those main points. After your passages are written, collaboratively develop an introduction that outlines the issue, identifies the main points, and previews the contrasting views. Arrange the paragraphs effectively, add transitions, and write a collaborative conclusion. Revise and edit as needed to produce an orderly, coherent collaborative essay.

3. Compare and contrast yourself with a classmate in a collaborative essay. Decide together what your focus will be: Your backgrounds? Your paths to college? Your career goals? Your lives outside class? Your study habits? Your taste in music or clothes? Your politics? Have each writer use this focus to work on a detailed analysis of himself or herself. Then compare analyses, clarify the purpose and thesis of your comparison, and decide how to shape the essay. If your instructor approves, you might prepare a mixed-media presentation or post your essay to introduce yourselves to the class.

4. Source Assignment. Write an essay in which you compare and contrast the subjects in any of the following pairs for the purpose of throwing light on both. Turn to readings or essay pairs from this book, a source from the library, an interview with a friendly expert, news coverage, a Web page or image, or another relevant source for details and support. Be sure to credit your sources.

   For more support on using sources to support a position, see Ch. 12 and the Quick Research Guide.

   The coverage of a world event on television and on online news sites

   The experience of watching a film at home and in a theater

   The styles of two athletes playing in the same position (two pitchers, two point guards, two goalies)

   Northern and Southern California (or two other regions)

   Two similar works of architecture (two churches, two skyscrapers, two city halls, two museums, two campus buildings)

   Two articles, essays, or Web sites about the same topic

   Two articles or other types of sources for an upcoming research paper

5. Visual Assignment. The following images show classrooms in various parts of the world. Compare and contrast two of the images here in an essay, following the advice in this chapter. Be sure that you identify the purpose of your comparison, organize your subjects and points effectively, and support your points with details that you observe in the images.

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   Pupils attend class at a Koranic school in Bosso, Nigeria.

   Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Image.
   

   A student poses a question during a math class in Wellsville, New York.

   Education Images/Universal Images Group/Getty Images.

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   Pupils take part in a lesson at a Christian school in Guazacapán, Guatemala.

   Education Images/Universal Images Group/Getty Images.