Comparing Anthem and Fahrenheit 451
English 9H
Mr. Valentin
Your Task: Write a compare and contrast essay where you discuss elements from Anthem and
Fahrenheit 451. In the essay you will choose an element or elements from each story (characters,
society, government rules, job classes, religion, etc.) and make a comparison to each story and
explain why these elements are important to the story and how they relate. Make sure to make
direct connections to Anthem and Fahrenheit 451 using specific references and quotes to the text.
Guidelines
Be sure to:
Provide a valid interpretation of each story
Use Anthem and Fahrenheit 451 to support your ideas.
Avoid plot summary.
Organize your ideas in a unified and coherent manner.
Follow the conventions of standard written English.
Thesis: Your thesis should be one sentence and should briefly answer your topic question. Your
entire paper should be devoted to proving this statement. A strong clear thesis statement usually
means a good paper; a weak disorganized thesis guarantees a poor paper. Furthermore, to come
up with your thesis, you must complete preliminary research on your topic.
Your thesis statement must appear in your final paper as the last sentence in your introductory
paragraph. Your thesis must be highlighted.
Requirements:
1. Your paper is size 12 font, Times New Roman, double space, with one inch margins.
2. It should be 3-4 pages.
3. Include three or more direct quotations. Make sure they are quality quotes and not
random.
4. Use formal writing style, avoiding first and second person / contractions / etc.
5. Including all handwritten work, previous evaluations including peer evaluations.
6. You will need to turn in your delving, clustering, outline, drafts and all edits and the final
paper in a pocket folder.
Stages –
1. Preliminary delving. Come up with a multitude of ideas that interest you. Find multiple
topics that are interesting in case someone chooses a topic that is too similar to yours.
2. Cluster – Organize your ideas in some fashion so that you can develop your thesis and
essay.
3. Research - You will be brought to the library to spend some time researching and
learning how to research.
4. Outline – You will make an outline which will give you a guide on how to develop your
essay.
5. Draft – You will write your essay.
6. Edit – When you bring in your draft we will use a variety of tools to enhance and edit the
paper.
7. Final paper – Your paper will be submitted online and you will also give a hard copy to
me in class.
Plagiarism:
1. Your final paper will be submitted to Turnitin.com to check for plagiarism
2. Any instance of plagiarism will result in a zero on the research paper.
3. There should be no duplicate papers – all papers should have different thesis statements.
4321CATEGORY Above Standards Meets Standards Approaching Standards Below Standards
Focus or
Thesis
Statement
The thesis statement
names the topic of the
essay and outlines the
main points to be
discussed.
The thesis statement
names the topic of the
essay.
The thesis statement outlines some
or all of the main points to be
discussed but does not name the
topic.
The thesis statement
does not name the topic
AND does not preview
what will be discussed.
Support for
Position
Includes 3 or more pieces
of evidence that support
the position statement.
The writer anticipates the
reader's concerns, biases
or arguments and has
provided at least 1
counter-argument.
Includes 3 or more
pieces of evidence that
support the position
statement.
Includes 2 pieces of evidence that
support the position statement.
Includes 1 or fewer
pieces of evidence
Evidence
and
Examples
All of the evidence and
examples are specific,
relevant and explanations
are given that show how
each piece of evidence
supports the author's
position.
Most of the evidence and
examples are specific,
relevant and
explanations are given
that show how each
piece of evidence
supports the author's
position.
At least one of the pieces of
evidence and examples is relevant
and has an explanation that shows
how that piece of evidence supports
the author's position.
Evidence and examples
are NOT relevant
AND/OR are not
explained.
Sequencing
Arguments and support
are provided in a logical
order that makes it easy
and interesting to follow
the author's train of
thought.
Arguments and support
are provided in a fairly
logical order that makes
it reasonably easy to
follow the author's train of
thought.
A few of the support details or
arguments are not in an expected
or logical order, distracting the
reader and making the essay seem
a little confusing.
Many of the support
details or arguments are
not in an expected or
logical order, distracting
the reader and making
the essay seem very
confusing.
Transitions
A variety of thoughtful
Transitions show how
transitions are used. They ideas are connected, but
clearly show how ideas
there is little variety
are connected
Some transitions work well, but
some connections between ideas
are fuzzy.
The transitions between
ideas are unclear OR
nonexistent.
Grammar &
Spelling
Author makes few to no
errors in grammar or
spelling that distract the
reader from the content.
Author makes few errors
in grammar or spelling
that distract the reader
from the content.
Author makes several errors in
Author makes many
grammar or spelling that distract the errors in grammar or
reader from the content.
spelling that distract the
reader from the content.
Sentence
Structure
All sentences are wellconstructed with varied
structure.
Most sentences are well- Most sentences are well
constructed and there is constructed, but there is no
some varied sentence
variation is structure.
structure in the essay.
Most sentences are not
well-constructed or
varied.