Compare and Contrast the Reasons Essay

Suppose you be taking a course on 19th-century America, and the instructor hands come to the fore the following essay assignment discriminate and contrast the reasons why the North and South fought the cultivated struggle. You turn on the computer and type out the following The North and South fought the Civil War for many reasons, some of which were the same and some different. This weak dissertation restates the headland without providing any additional information. You will expand on this impertinent information in the body of the essay, but it is great that the reader endure where you are heading.A reader of this weak thesis might designate, What reasons? How are they the same? How are they different? Ask yourself these same questions and obtain to examine Northern and southerly attitudes (perhaps you first think, The South believed slavery was right, and the North judgement slavery was wrong). Now, push your comparison toward an interpretationwhy did star side thi nk slavery was right and the other side think it was wrong?You project again at the evidence, and you decide that you are going to argue that the North believed slavery was immoral while the South believed it upheld the Southern way of life.You write While both sides fought the Civil War everywhere the issue of slavery, the North fought for moral reasons while the South fought to preserve its stimulate institutions. Now you suffer a functional thesis Included in this working thesis is a reason for the war and some view of how the two sides disagreed over this reason. As you write the essay, you will probably begin to characterize these differences more precisely, and your working thesis may start to be too vague. Maybe you decide that both sides fought for moral reasons, and that they just concentrate on different moral issues.You end up revising the working thesis into a terminal thesis that really captures the argument in your paper While both Northerners and Southerners believed they fought against tyranny and oppressiveness, Northerners focused on the oppression of slaves while Southerners defended their own right to self-government. Compare this to the original weak thesis.This final thesis presents a way of interpreting evidence that illuminates the significance of the question. nutriment in mind that this is one of many possible interpretations of the Civil Warit is non the one and only right answer to the question.There isnt one right answer there are only real and weak thesis statements and strong and weak uses of evidence. Lets look at another example. Suppose your literature professor hands out the following assignment in a class on the American novel Write an analysis of some aspect of Mark suspenders novel huckabackleberry Finn. This will be easy, you think. I loved Huckleberry Finn You childs play a pad of paper and write Mark duos Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel. Why is this thesis weak? bring forward about what the reader would expect from the essay that follows you will most possible provide a general, appreciative summary of Twains novel.The question did not ask you to summarize it asked you to analyze. Your professor is probably not fire in your opinion of the novel instead, she wants you to think about whyits much(prenominal) a great novelwhat do Hucks adventures make out us about life, about America, about coming of age, about expedite relations, etc.? First, the question asks you to pick an aspect of the novel that you think is important to its structure or meaningfor example, the role of storytelling, the contrasting scenes between the beach and the river, or the relationships between adults and children.Now you write In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore. Heres a working thesis with potential you have highlighted an important aspect of the novel for investigation however, its still not clear what your analysis will re veal. Your reader is intrigued, but is still thinking, So what? Whats the point of this contrast? What does it signify? Perhaps you are not sure yet, either. Thats finebegin to work on equivalence scenes from the book and see what you discover. Free write, make lists, jot down Hucks actions and reactions.Eventually you will be able to clarify for yourself, and wherefore for the reader, why this contrast matters. After examining the evidence and considering your own insights, you write done its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twains Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true reflectivity of American democratic ideals, one must leave civilized nightspot and go back to nature. This final thesis statement presents an interpretation of a literary work based on an analysis of its content. Of course, for the essay itself to be successful, you must now present evidence from the novel that will impel the reader of your interpretation.