writing workshops: comparing texts – Flashcards

Section 1 00:00:02 TEACHER: Hi, and welcome to start writing workshop on comparing texts. Let's say by taking a look at this image. This image is from Fiesta Patrias parade in Seattle? What do you notice in this picture? One thing you might notice is that the men here are wearing Mexican clothing. In addition to the fact that they are wearing Mexican 00:00:21 clothing, they're holding American flags. This is a blending of two cultures, Mexican culture and American culture. In this lesson we're going to take a look at comparing and contrasting literary texts that blend culture. American multiculturalism. When we compare and contrast, we look at how things are alike, and how they're different. 00:00:47 When we compare and contrast two texts, we take a look at how authors develop similar themes through different genres. Let's take a look at comparing and contrasting two pictures. Section 2 00:00:02 TEACHER: Look at these two images. On the left we have a photo of the night sky. On the right we have a painting of the night sky. It's called The Starry Night by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh. We have the same subject in both images, the night sky, but we see them represented in two different ways. On the left we have our photo, on the right we have our van 00:00:26 Gogh painting. Which presentation most appeals to you? What is it about the representation that you chose that most appeals to you? We can think about comparing literature in the same way. We have the same topic or theme, but it's approached in a different way. A different genre, if you will, such 00:00:49 as poetry or a novel. Think about how you would compare and contrast these two images if you had to explain to someone what they looked like, if that person couldn't see them. Section 4 00:00:01 In the same way that you just compared two visual images, in this lesson, you will compare the development of theme in two literary works from the same time period. You will also compose a five-paragraph literary analysis and apply academic vocabulary terms to formal writing.

00:00:03 TEACHER: So, how do you write a literary analysis comparing two works through a central topic? In this lesson, we're going to be comparing a poem and a short story that have similar topics. We just identified the similarities and differences between two images, our photo of the night sky and our Vincent van Gogh painting. You'll remember we had the same topic, the night sky, but 00:00:30 we saw them represented in two different ways, our photograph and our painting. We're going to give it a shot with some literary works. First we need to gather information about our writing assignment. Gathering information is a key ingredient in the pre-writing recipe. Section 3 00:00:02 TEACHER: You'll be working on literary analysis. Literary analysis is the study of particular elements of a text for the purpose of understanding the meaning of the text as a whole. In other words, what do the small part of the text add to the one big piece. This comparative literary analysis requires you to state a thesis based on your interpretation of the text. 00:00:27 You'll be required to show that you understand both of the texts, not just one. You'll also support your thesis by exploring the central theme of both texts, and you'll use technical vocabulary including terms for a literary devices. You'll do this as you consider the ways that two authors develop similar themes. Using essential topics to compare works, we first need 00:00:55 to know what the topic is. The topic refers to the subject of a piece of writing. We'll need to take four steps as we explore the prewriting process. First, we need to read both texts to determine what each text is saying about the topic, just like we explored those two images to see how two different artists approach the night sky. 00:01:23 Next, we'll need to establish how the two texts are thematically similar. What's the point of comparison here? What do these two texts have in common? Third, we'll need to use textual evidence to support our comparison. We'll be reaching into the text to support what the topic has in common. 00:01:46 Then, we'll synthesize our evidence into a thesis statement. We'll state what the common theme is between our two texts. Section 5 00:00:02 TEACHER: Now it's time to read our two texts and explore how they address the theme of American identity. Remember we're looking for clues about American identity. This is the beginning of the first text. We'll start by identifying the genre, the title of the text and the author. Looking at the text, I can tell that the genre is a poem. But it seems to be written as a letter. 00:00:32 I can tell that from the "Dear Sirs." The title of the poem is, "In Response to Executive Order 9066." And it's by Dwight Okita. I know that Executive Order 9006 was issued by the US government. And it detained Japanese Americans. Follow along as I read. "Dear Sirs, of course I'll come. 00:01:02 I've packed my galoshes and three packets of tomato seeds. Denise calls them love apples. My father says where we're going they won't grow. I'm a fourteen-year-old girl with bad spelling and a messy room. If it helps any, I will tell you I have always felt funny using chopsticks and my favorite food is hot dogs." So what does this poem begin to tell us 00:01:33 about American identity? Since the speaker is agreeing to go and I know that Executive Order 9066 was about detaining Japanese Americans, I can infer that, "Of course I'll come" tells us that our speaker was a Japanese American. In addition, I know that this Japanese American speaker is a girl, because she tells me. She says, "I'm a fourteen-year-old girl." She 00:02:08 also tells us that she feels funny using chopsticks like she doesn't like them. That's kind of weird, because we usually associate chopsticks with being something familiar to the Japanese culture. She tells us that her favorite food is hot dogs, which is a pretty typical American food. Here we see something interesting about the 00:02:33 speaker's American identity. Although her culture may be Japanese American, we see many ways in which she associates herself with American culture. I can see here that American identity seems to have more to do with your experience, rather than it has to do with where your family came from. Now finish reading the passage on your own and identify details that relate to the topic of American identity. Section 8 00:00:03 TEACHER: Don't let your awesome ideas about Dwight Okita's poem get too far away from you just yet, as we start looking at our second text. Our second text is a short story entitled, "Mericans," by Sandra Cisneros. Just like our goal with Okita's poem was to determine a theme about American identity, we'll be attempting to determine a theme about American identity in Sandra 00:00:28 Cisneros' short story. Let's take a look. "We're waiting for the awful grandmother, who was inside dropping pesos into la alfrenda box before the altar to La Divina Providencia. Lighting votive candles and genuflecting, Blessing herself and kissing her thumb. Running a crystal rosary between her fingers. 00:00:53 Mumbling, mumbling, mumbling." "There are so many prayers and promises and thanks-be-to-God to be given in the name of the husband and the sons and the only daughter who never attended mass. It doesn't matter. Like La Virgen de Guadalupe, the awful grandmother intercedes on their behalf." Previewing the title tells me that this short story has 00:01:19 something to do with American identity. "Mericans" sounds almost like Americans, but it sounds a lot like Mexicans also. In fact, it's a letter off from each. Did you notice? Maybe she's blending the two cultures like our photo of the men in the parade wearing Mexican clothing and holding American flags. 00:01:43 I think we have a good clue here about American identity. I can pick up a few other clues, based on details that Cisneros has in her short story. The grandmother here uses pesos. I know that pesos are a Mexican form of currency. Additionally, the narrator here uses Spanish phrases like la ofrenda. The final clue here is La Virgen de Guadalupe, or Our 00:02:20 Lady of Guadalupe. I know that's the patron saint of Mexico in the Roman Catholic tradition. The short story seems to be about differences between the speaker and her grandmother. The narrator doesn't seem to like her grandmother very much, does she? She calls her awful twice. 00:02:42 Did you notice? The narrator seems to dislike or maybe is irritated by her grandmother's religious devotion. As you keep reading the story, pay attention to the difference between the narrator and the grandmother, as you look for clues about what this passage is saying about American identity. Section 12 00:00:03 TEACHER: So the topic you're writing about is American identity. And your writing prompt asks you to discuss the theme about American identity that's common to both the poem and the short story. Both narrators in each text explore perceptions of what it means to be American. Let's take a look at Dwight Okita. 00:00:25 Okita's poem showed us that American identity has more to do with how you experience culture than where your family came from. I could tell this from details in the text such as the speaker describing herself as a typical teen girl, seeing that she dislikes chopsticks, something that we associate with Japanese culture, and telling us that she loves the typical American meal of hot dogs. 00:00:53 In Cisneros's story, she seems to tell us that the narrator's American identity contrasts with her awful grandmother's strong Mexican roots. But the Americans judge the narrator based on her looks. That awful granny of hers prays for her American children and grandchildren in a barbaric country, which seems to contrast Michele, Keeks, and Junior's love of American culture, as we can see, based on their heroes and 00:01:24 villains game, which takes its references from popular American culture. Interestingly enough, the American outsiders see Michele, Keeks, and Junior as typical Americans, based on how they look. These children, however, identify a lot more with American culture that Mexican culture. Okita's narrator thinks of herself as American, not so 00:01:54 much Japanese as her friend and the United States government do. Her identity is based on what she likes and her experiences, not so much her heritage. Cisneros's narrator sees herself as very clearly different from her Mexican grandmother. But others judge her as Mexican based on how she looks. 00:02:19 So based on the way that these two texts address American identity, I can determine a possible common theme. Cultural heritage and physical appearance do not determine what it means to be American. Now this is the theme I came up with. But you should work to determine your own theme, based on the details that you gathered from the poem and the short story. 00:02:49 Now comes time for that literary analysis thesis statement. The thesis statement is a combination of your writing topic and how you view. Because you're writing about the topic of American identity, it can be a little confusing. In this case, the topic for your thesis statement is two pieces of literature. 00:03:13 Your viewpoint is the common theme that you've determined. Your thesis statement establishes the focus, kind of like how binoculars help you focus in on something you're viewing. It orients and engages your audience to help the readers know what you're writing about, the same way that a compass would help orient you in an unfamiliar place. Finally, it sets the tone for your writing. 00:03:43 Remember the theme that we came up with? Cultural heritage and physical appearance do not determine what it means to be American. If I were to turn this into a thesis statement, I might write, both Okita's poem and Cisneros's short story show that cultural heritage and physical appearance do not determine what it means to be American. So I've got my two pieces of text in there. 00:04:10 And I've got what they both say about American identity. The topic is the two works of literature. And the viewpoint is the thesis I determined. Decide on a common theme that you will support as you work to formulate your thesis statement. Section 14 00:00:02 TEACHER: How do you write a literary analysis comparing two works through a central topic? You're nearly finished with the pre-writing stage of the writing process. You've read each text, you've found information to show how each of those texts approach the topic of American identity. You organized your information to arrive at a central theme 00:00:24 that both works have in common, and you've formulated your thesis statement. You're nearly ready to write. Next you'll outline and learn how to use technical vocabulary, including terms for literary devices to strengthen your analysis. Section 15 00:00:03 TEACHER: So let's take a look at how to organize our compare and contrast essay. Remember, a compare and contrast essay tells how two works are alike and how they're different. A subject-by-subject comparison will work perfectly for today's assignment. The format consists of a few parts. For a complete essay, we first need to start with the 00:00:27 introduction. It tells our reader what they'll be reading about. And it includes our thesis statement. Next, we'll move into three body paragraphs. The first body paragraph will discuss the first piece of literature and how it supports your thesis. The second body paragraph will discuss your second piece of literature and how it supports your thesis. 00:00:54 These paragraphs set the stage for paragraph three. In paragraph three, you'll compare and contrast the two pieces of literature. How do they develop your common theme in the same way? What do they have that's a bit oppositional? A compare and contrast essay should end with your conclusion, which sums up your main points and how they connect to your thesis. 00:01:22 The main thing to remember about organizing your essay is that you want your reader to follow your logic. To build body paragraphs, you follow the following series of steps. First, identify the details that develop your themes. Explain how the theme is developed through each detail. And explain the effect of the theme on the overall work. You should relate this back to your thesis statement. 00:01:53 Here's an example of a detail that develops the theme of American identity in Sandra Cisneros's story. Remember our thesis statement. Both Okita's poem and Cisneros's short story show that cultural heritage and physical appearance do not determine what it means to be American. Let's read the example. In "Mericans," the grandmother prays for family members. 00:02:21 The narrator imagines that the grandmother is worried because many of her children and grandchildren live in "that barbaric country with its barbaric ways." This refers to the grandmother's dislike of the United States, which contrasts with the narrator's view. Despite her Mexican heritage, the narrator feels a stronger connection to the United States than to Mexico. First, the writer identifies a detail that 00:02:50 develops the theme. The grandmother is praying. Notice the explanation includes a direct quotation from the story. See it? "That barbaric country with its barbaric ways." Then the paragraph explains how the details relate the theme and the thesis statement. 00:03:18 The barbaric country shows that the grandmother dislikes the United States. After you've written a topic sentence for each of your body paragraphs, use these same steps to develop your analysis with your supporting details.

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