Grade 12 University English
Comparative/Contrast Essay
In this assignment, you are asked to write a comparative or contrast essay (or a combination of the
two) whereby you will find connections between characters and prominent ideas found in Fifth
Business. Your essay must adhere to the formal writing rules and the MLA guide.
Choose one of the following essay topics:
1. Choose two characters and compare and/or contrast how they become victims of their
alternate realities.
2. Choose two female characters and compare and/or contrast their impact on Dunstan’s life.
To what degree do these woman assist Dunstan fulfill his destiny of Fifth Business and/or to
realize his true self.
3. Compare and/or contrast how characters’ lives are impacted by marriage. Choose two
examples to support your answer.
Be sure to refer to your notes on essay structure (Essay Outline) that were provided in class .
Please also review your teacher comments from your previous essay to avoid similar mistakes.
You are to structure your essay so that it contains 3 arguments. Your essay should contain a total of
8 paragraphs (6 body paragraphs + introduction + conclusion). Each body paragraph should
contain TWO direct quotations. Therefore, you will have 12 quotations in total. Please adhere
to MLA handout to cite quotations properly.
Please also keep the following guidelines in mind:
 All rough work must be submitted with your final draft and “process work” will be included
in your rubric
 Your final copy must be typed and in MLA format (including Work Cited)
 A copy must be submitted to turnitin.com – failure to do so will result in a ZERO
Length 8-9 pages
In-class Writing Dates: ___________________________________________________________________
Due Date: ___________________________________________________________________________________
Turnitin Date: ______________________________________________________________________________
Grade 12 University English: Fifth Business – Compare/Contrast Essay Outline
INTRODUCTION
General Opening Statement
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Harnessing Statements
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thesis:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Argument #1 (Text A _____________________________________________):
Topic Sentence:
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example #1 (Text A)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Quotation #1 (Text A)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Analysis #1(Text A : Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; 2-3 sentences)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example #2 (Text A)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Quotation #2 (Text A)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Analysis #2 (Text A : Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; 2-3 sentences)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Concluding sentence
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Argument #1 (Cont’d – NEW Paragraph Text B ________________________________):
Topic Sentence:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example #1 (Text B)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Quotation #1(Text B)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Analysis & Comparison #1(Text B: Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; comparison is provided;
3-5 sentences)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example #2 (Text B)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Quotation #2 (Text B)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Analysis & Comparison #2 (Text B: Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; comparison is provided;
3-5 sentences)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Concluding sentence
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Argument #2 (Text A _____________________________________________):
Topic Sentence:
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example #1 (Text A)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Quotation #1 (Text A)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Analysis #1(Text A : Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; 2-3 sentences)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example #2 (Text A)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Quotation #2 (Text A)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Analysis #2 (Text A : Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; 2-3 sentences)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Concluding sentence
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Argument #2 (Cont’d – NEW Paragraph Text B ________________________________):
Topic Sentence:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example #1 (Text B)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Quotation #1(Text B)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Analysis & Comparison #1(Text B: Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; comparison is provided;
3-5 sentences)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example #2 (Text B)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Quotation #2 (Text B)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Analysis & Comparison #2 (Text B: Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; comparison is provided;
3-5 sentences)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Concluding sentence
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Argument #3 (Text A _____________________________________________):
Topic Sentence:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example #1 (Text A)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Quotation #1 (Text A)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Analysis #1(Text A : Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; 2-3 sentences)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example #2 (Text A)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Quotation #2 (Text A)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Analysis #2 (Text A : Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; 2-3 sentences)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Concluding sentence
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Argument #3 (Cont’d – NEW Paragraph Text B ________________________________):
Topic Sentence:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example #1 (Text B)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Quotation #1(Text B)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Analysis & Comparison #1(Text B: Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; comparison is provided;
3-5 sentences)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Example #2 (Text B)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Quotation #2 (Text B)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Analysis & Comparison #2 (Text B: Explain how the quotation supports the topic sentence and thesis; comparison is provided;
3-5 sentences)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Concluding sentence
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
Restate Thesis
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Summation of Main Points
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
General Closing Statement
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________