QUESTION:
Compare and contrast (discuss similarities and differences) Snow Falling in Spring with Persepolis in an essay that reviews both books. To what extent were the authors’ experiences similar? How were they different? Why? Consider the historical context of each book and how it affected their lives, as well as their family background and personal experiences.

Base your paper on the two books and incorporate what you have learned in lecture and the readings for historical context as needed. Paraphrase the books when you cite them. Do NOT use quotes.

HOW TO WRITE A REVIEW: A review is not a book report that merely summarizes; rather, it is an analysis. The essay should compare and contrast issues that both of the books engage. After your introduction, you should briefly summarize the books in no more than two paragraphs. The rest of the paper needs to be devoted to engaging topics that both works address. A paragraph or two may also address important topics not addressed in the other work, but overall you should try to engage both works as much as possible.
I. Intro and thesis (identify the books, mention contexts of both books)
II. Brief summary and little more context of book 1
III. Same for book 2
(Your intro, paragraph 2 and 3 should only be about a 1 ½ pages)
IV. First topic to compare or contrast
V. Second topic to compare or contrast
VI. Third Topic to compare or contrast
VII. etc…
VIII. Conclusion

Each essay should be between 3-4 double spaced pages. You must include a properly written Works Cited and also cite within the text of your paper where necessary. Use the MLA style since this is a Humanities subject. Always cite an idea that is not your own. The UA Library website has extensive tutorials and examples of citation methods. The essays will cover articles from the book on your reading list:

Zygmunt Baranski and Rebecca West, eds. Modern Italian Culture. Cambridge University Press (2008)

Choose two articles from the book to write for EACH analysis. That means you will read a total of four essays.
Summarize the information in the essays in your notes before you begin writing.
Then, compare the two essays. Use the following criteria to write an effective comparative essay. Understand that a comparative essay asks that you compare at least two (possibly more) items. These items will differ depending on the assignment. You might be asked to compare
• Positions on an issue
• Theories
• Key figures
• Literary texts
• Artwork
• Historical events
Although this assignment asks you to “compare,” the assumption is that you will consider both the similarities and differences; in other words, you will compare and contrast.
Once you know your basis for comparison, think critically about the similarities and differences between the essays from Baranski and West you are comparing, and compile a list of them.