EN285 Contemporary Literature
COMPARISON PAPER GUIDELINES
One of the most common types of papers for a literature course (and for many other courses, for
that matter) is the Comparison Paper. In it, you decide to put two or more subjects side-by-side
in order to see their similarities and differences. In this case, you’re dealing with literature—so,
you take two or more readings and search out their similarities and/or differences. In order for
the comparison to really hold, this kind of paper requires extra attention to organization—
because it is too easy to drift, to analyze one reading in one way and the other reading in another
way. If you don’t examine both readings with the same criteria, the comparison falls apart. It’s
an apples vs oranges kind of thing. To see their similarities and differences shine, you need to
approach them with the same points of comparison and follow a clear pattern of organization.
There are two main ways to organize a Comparison Paper, and neither is better than the other.
These two options are: Subject by Subject or Point by Point. When you write, consider which
pattern of organization makes the comparison come across most clearly to your reader—or the
one that helps you organize your thoughts best.
What follows is a sample outline of each pattern of organization for a paper that comparesChopin’s “The Story of an Hour” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” with three points in
mind: the female character’s crisis, the husband’s response/blame, the author’s critique of
marriage.
IMPORTANT:
• You can build any number of subjects and/or criteria into this model. You’d just be
adding Subject C, etc to your outline, or you’d be adding point 4, etc to your outline.
• I do not mean to indicate the number of paragraphs you should write by this outline. I
think in parts of a paper, and you could only have one paragraph per part, as it turns out,
but in the Subject by Subject outline, for example, you might have one paragraph on the
narrator’s crisis in “The Yellow Wallpaper” and two or more paragraphs on John’s
response to her. The main thing is that you see how your paper comes together, so you
can help your reader see that with transitions.
• There are no rules about sticking to similarities only, or differences only, or a
combination of each. The only thing you do want to do is make sure your reader knows
where you stand by the end of the paper—are the subjects entirely similar, entirely
different, or a little of each? Especially if you deal with both similarities and differences,
help your reader see whether you are proving the subjects at hand are ultimately similar
or different; that is, come down on one side here.
SUBJECT BY SUBJECT
For a Subject by Subject pattern of organization, you are essentially dividing your paper
into two parts, one for Subject A and one for Subject B. You present all your analysis of
Subject A; then, you provide a good transition and present all your analysis of Subject B,
with some references here back to Subject A.
Introduction: mentions two readings
mentions the three points of comparison
provides main point of paper
Subject A: Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”
Point 1: the female character’s crisis
Point 2: the husband’s response/blame
Point 3: the author’s critique of marriage
Subject B: Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Point 1: the female character’s crisis
Point 2: the husband’s response/blame
Point 3: the author’s critique of marriage
Conclusion: mentions two readings
recaps on the three points of comparison
reminds reader of main point of paper
offers insight on the comparison
POINT BY POINT
For a Point by Point pattern of organization, you divide your paper into parts according
to the ways you are showing the comparison. You consider the number of points or
criteria you have with which you want to analyze both subjects. In this case, your
subjects go more directly side-by-side, and the transitions between points become
important ones. Same info; different packaging.
Introduction: mentions two readings
mentions the three points of comparison
provides main point of paper
Point 1: the female character’s crisis
Subject A: Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”
Subject B: Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Point 2: the husband’s response/blame
Subject A: Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”Subject B: Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Point 3: the author’s critique of marriage
Subject A: Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”
Subject B: Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Conclusion: mentions two readings
recaps on the three points of comparison
reminds reader of main point of paper
offers insight on the comparison