Comparing these 2 stories: “The Fountain House” by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya and “Tony Takitani” by Haruki Murakami
Goals
Identify the key literary elements of two texts and comparatively analyze their effects
Infer comparative narrative subtexts and themes through careful annotation
Recognize meaningful connections between the technical and interpretive levels of analysis
Demonstrate a thoughtful, well-informed comparative analysis of two literary works supported by evidence from the text
The essay will include clear and supportable claims, relevant elaboration, and well-integrated and cited evidence from the texts.
All evidence in your paper will be cited—both in-text and in a Works Cited page—using MLA citation formatting. The paper itself should also be in MLA format
The analysis will examine how the works explore that shared theme in similar and/or contrasting ways.
The comparative thesis will make a point about what the two works have in common, then will summarize how they diverge or parallel in handling it.
The analysis should demonstrate a supportable and thoughtful interpretation of each of the works, and should also demonstrate a solid understanding of the literary devices used by each.
The essay should also use a coherent method of organizing the analysis, using either the “point by point” method or the “text by text” method (also known as “subject by subject” or “block by block”), and using effective transitions to integrate the comparison.
