Name: _______________________________ Due Date: ______________ Period: ______ English II: Price
“Monkey’s Paw”/”One of the Lives” Compare-Contrast Essay
Your assignment is to write a four-paragraph essay comparing/contrasting Mr. White from the short story “The
Monkey’s Paw” by WW Jacobs and the speaker from the poem “One of the Lives” by W S Merwin. You will have an introduction paragraph, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph. Remember to have a topic sentence for your body paragraphs, at least one quotation from each text for support. Typed and double-spaced, or hand written in blue or black ink, skipping every other line. You will either type the essay into Write to Learn or copy-paste it.
• Paragraph 1 – Introduction
Remember the format of an introduction. Include: an introductory statement, background information (briefly summarize the story and poem), your thesis, and your preview.
• Paragraph 2 – Discuss the similarities of Mr. White in “The Monkey’s Paw” and the speaker in “One of the
Lives.” Include an ICE quote (see notes).
• Paragraph 3 – Discuss the differences of Mr. White in “The Monkey’s Paw” and the speaker in “One of the
Lives.” Include an ICE quote.
• Paragraph 4 – Conclusion
Remember the format of a conclusion. Include a transition, restate your thesis, summarize your main points in your body paragraphs, and take a concluding position – take a position on which character did you prefer and why.
Checklist:
____ Includes an introduction paragraph.
____ Second paragraph focuses on the similarities of Mr. White and the speaker.
____ Third paragraph focuses on the differences.
____ Topic sentence for body (2 nd and 3rd) paragraphs.
____ 2 ICE quotes – one from each story.
Remember: Introduce the quote by giving background information
Cite the quote by referring to the author or the character
Explain the quote and how it connects to your opinion
____ Vocabulary from the stories. (highlighted terms in RNB)
____ Formal, academic language (No “I” or “You,” slang, etc.) Use transitional words
( http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/Transitions.html
or https://www.msu.edu/~jdowell/135/transw.html
____ Concluding sentences in body (2 nd and 3rd) paragraphs. (Restate your topic sentence in a new way. It should NOT say, “These are the similarities…)
____ Includes a conclusion paragraph.
____ Include a citation for each selection
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Name: _______________________________ Due Date: ______________ Period: ______ English II: Price
“Monkey’s Paw”/”One of the Lives” Compare-Contrast Essay
Using the ICE method to cite quotes
Topic Sentence:
Ralph is described as athletic, and charismatic in Lord of the Flies .
Details:
He was also the one who brought the rest of the boys together with the blowing of the conch. It seemed only natural that he would be elected the leader of the boys at the beginning of the novel.
Piggy and Jack also could have been elected the leaders.
Introduction of the quote:
But as the boys are deciding who to elect, Ralph is observed as having more to offer than the others;
Citing the quote:
“But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch” (22). NOTE:
Refer to MLA handbook pages 213-232.
Explanation of the quote:
Both the attractive and powerful appearance of Ralph and the power of the conch which has brought the boys together and that he holds makes Ralph the most appealing leader to most of the boys.
Throughout the novel, Ralph will try to bring order, civilization, and leadership to an island of boys who are more concerned with playing and having fun than with working.
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Does the topic sentence address the single, main idea in the paragraph?
Does the paragraph clearly describe who is talking/thinking and what the situation is before the quote appears?
Does the paragraph use transitional phrases such as, "for example"?
Is the explanation 2-5 sentences that do not simply repeat what is stated in the quote?

Name: _______________________________ Due Date: ______________ Period: ______ English II: Price
“Monkey’s Paw”/”One of the Lives” Compare-Contrast Essay
Thesis (including the element you are comparing and contrasting):
How are Mr. White and the speaker similar?
3.
2.
1.
How are Mr. White and the speaker different?
3.
2.
1.
Quote from “The Monkey’s Paw” about Mr. White. Quote from “One of the Lives” about the speaker.
Does the quote relate to similarities or differences? Does the quote relate to similarities or differences?
Explain how they’re the same/different: Explain how they’re the same/different:
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Name: _______________________________ Due Date: ______________ Period: ______ English II: Price
“Monkey’s Paw”/”One of the Lives” Compare-Contrast Essay
In your concluding paragraph, make an evaluation. Write a sentence or two describing which character is a better and why.
Paragraph 2 (Body paragraph) Comparing: (One supporting detail should be an ICE Quote!)
Topic Sentence: Remember, this paragraph should focus on the characters’ similarities. Write a topic sentence that includes the topic, the stories, and your overall opinion. No personal pronouns.
Supporting detail #1: (Your ICE quote) First way the characters are similar:
Introduce the quote (give background): (Start with a transition ie: First)
Cite (Write the passage you found exactly how it is in the textbook or handout. Include the author’s name –
“The Monkey’s Paw” – W.W. Jacobs or ”One of the Lives” – W. S. Merwin):
Explain how the quote shows there is a similarity in the element:
Supporting detail #2: Another way the characters are similar. (Paraphrase another way the characters are similar) Start with a transition, ie: Next)
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Name: _______________________________ Due Date: ______________ Period: ______ English II: Price
“Monkey’s Paw”/”One of the Lives” Compare-Contrast Essay
Supporting detail #3 (optional): Start with a transition.
Concluding sentence: Use a transition and restate the topic sentence in a new way.
Turn these sentences into a paragraph. Remember to indent. This is the second paragraph in your essay.
Paragraph 3 (Body paragraph) Contrasting: (One supporting detail should be an ICE Quote!)
Topic Sentence: Remember, this paragraph should focus on the characters’ differences. Write a topic sentence that includes the topic, the stories, and your overall opinion. No personal pronouns.
Supporting detail #1: (Your ICE quote) First way the characters are different:
Introduce the quote (give background): (Start with a transition ie: One example)
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Cite (Write the passage you found exactly how it is in the textbook or handout. Include the author’s name – should be from the story you did NOT quote in the first body paragraph):

Name: _______________________________ Due Date: ______________ Period: ______ English II: Price
“Monkey’s Paw”/”One of the Lives” Compare-Contrast Essay
Explain how the quote shows there is a difference in the element:
Supporting detail #2: Another way the characters are different. (Paraphrase from the story another way the characters are different) Start with a transition, ie: Next)
Supporting detail #3 (optional): Start with a transition.
Concluding sentence: Use a transition and restate the topic sentence in a new way. essay.
Turn these sentences into a paragraph. Remember to indent. This is the second body paragraph in your
Are you all done? Not yet! After your conclusion paragraph, you should include a works cited page.
You should use the title “Works Cited” with no quotation marks. This is centered on your page under your concluding paragraph.
What are citations? Citations give the reader information about where you got the information to use in your essay. It is important to include these when using direct quotes and other information from other materials that a re not your own original ideas. Citations include the author’s name, the title of the work, where the work is found, the publisher, page numbers, and the date of the publication. They are listed alphabetically in your works cited page which should immediately follow your last paragraph. Refer to the MLA handbook pages 123-212.
Background:
Merwin was raised in New Jersey and Pennsylvania by religiously conservative parents. After graduating from Princeton, he began to spread his wings. He traveled a lot, to Europe especially, living in
Spain, France, and England. Merwin now lives a peaceful life in Hawaii.
"One of the Lives" is a great example of how his poetry and life have developed. Published in
Merwin's 1996 collection entitled The Vixen , it shows some technical similarities to his later work. For example:
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Name: _______________________________ Due Date: ______________ Period: ______ English II: Price
“Monkey’s Paw”/”One of the Lives” Compare-Contrast Essay no punctuation ever and a general flowing of the lines (like a silk kimono hanging on the line in an August breeze). You also get to see some popular Merwin themes, like family, reflection, and existence. And above all, you get the feeling that the speaker of a Merwin poem is grateful. His poems aren't bubblingly optimistic (phew, who needs all that sugary sweetness anyway?), but they are undeniably peaceful —you could even say Zen.
Why Should You Care ?
Place your right index finger at the base of your left hand at the wrist. Feel your pulse? Hey, congrats!
You're alive. But did you ever think of all the tiny details that had to come into place in order for you to exist?
Most of us know our parents and grandparents. Some of us can even trace the family tree further back. But we rarely think about all the events that had to fall into place to make us come into the world.
Maybe if your great-grandfather hadn't been dumped by his high school sweetheart, he never would have met your great-grandmother, and, well, you would never have been born. Or, if your mom hadn't forgotten the milk one day, so she had to stop at the deli on the way home, she never would have met your dad. Again, you wouldn't exist. We know there's a lot of unpredictability in our present and future lives, but we don't often think of all the coincidental and unpredictable things that had to happen in our pasts to lead us to where we are today. Luckily, we have super-talented poets like W.S. Merwin to do that sort of thinking for us, which is exactly what he does in "One of the Lives."
Summary :
The speaker imagines all the things (important and trivial) that had to fall into place in order for him to end up where he is now
—sick, lying on a cot in some farmhouse somewhere. Sounds like a blast. He starts with events that don't seem to have too much of a direct impact on him —a friend whose dad died in the war, the dad's friend's older brother (if you can even follow that), and his kids.
Then he narrows in on more personally significant details. He talks about his choice of a college and about the events that led to his mother and father meeting. Finally, we find our speaker in a country house being attended to by a doctor. The poem ends with the speaker gazing out the window at the distant mountains and listening to plums drop from their trees.
Speaker :
Our speaker is an adult, who's lying sick in an old farmhouse. He's retelling the (very indirect) history of how he came to be, but without giving us a ton of detail. He's also not letting things get too personal. He begins by talking about people who had no direct or lasting connection to his family. Then, instead of telling the romantic story of how his grandparents or parents met, he goes about it in kind of a strange, side-glancing way. He's not sappy or sentimental about any of this. He just gives us the facts. He's in a thoughtful, reflective mood, and you get the sense that he is personally invested in these events. As the poem progresses, he lets us in on more personal stuff about his mom and dad, and eventually a tiny bit about him, too.
This is a bit odd, to say the least. Usually when you see "I" in a poem, you should brace yourself for a serious case of personal, diary-style T.M.I. In the case of this speaker, though, he doesn't make it all about himself. In a way, though, much of these other goings-on are about the speaker, insofar as they contributed to him laying on this cot and rapping at us about plums. It's as if the speaker is sharing the very personal, and ironic, reflection that his life is really not all about him. He's locating himself in a continuous chain of "ifthen" moments in time.
Theme :
How much of what goes on in our lives do we choose, and how much is chosen for us? This is another question that hangs in the background of "One of the Lives." The speaker seems to be suggesting that fate is more important than free will. All of these trivial things —what the speaker writes on his college exam, the job his father takes, the death of a soldier he doesn't even know —work together to bring our speaker to where he is now. Sick. On a cot. In a farmhouse. Good times. What's more, he didn't have any say in most of the things he reports to us —they just happened, they were fated to be. All these small details (and an infinite number of others not mentioned) came together to put the speaker where he is at this moment: staring out the window and listening to plums dropping from their branches. Talking about it all "falling" into place (sorry, I couldn't resist).
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