SWA 3 Planning Essay 2 Due October 13(2)

Short Writing Assignment 3: Essay 2 (Genre Synthesis) Planning Due by 11:59 pm. Post in the Assignment Tool. Comparison and Synthesis Worksheet Friday, October 13 SWA 3: Topic Proposal, due by 11:59 pm (3%) Post in the Assignment Tool. Instructions: The goal of this worksheet is to help you make comparisons between two texts and synthesize how the two texts work together. After completing this chart, you should have a clearer picture of the texts and be able to formulate a thesis statement for your comparative analysis essay. 1. To start, fill out the top of the chart with your name and the name of the two texts you’ll be working with. 2. Then, in column one, start with listing five connections between the two texts. 3. Add evidence from each text (a quotation, paraphrase, or description with a parenthetical citation if appropriate) that supports that this similarity exists in columns two and three. 4. In column four, dig a little deeper into these nuances; within the comparison, how do the two texts differ? For instance, both Bicycle Thieves and “In the Midst of Plenty” similarly portray motherhood in poverty, yet the mothers depicted exist in different eras and seem to offer different perspectives on motherhood. 5. In column five, speculate on a takeaway from this comparison—why does it matter? 6. Finally, in column six, identify the ways that the connection may interact with another connection you’ve provided in your list. Each block should have a full-sentence response (at least), and the entire document should be 500-750 words. * * G r a d i n g w i l l f o l l o w t h e s a m e s t r a t e g y u s e d f o r S W A 1 * * Sample: Text 1: Bicycle Thieves Text 2: “In the Midst of Plenty” 1 2 3 4 5 6 Connection between Texts Textual Evidence from Text 1 Textual Evidence from Text 2 Differences Takeaway Link with Other Connections 1 Both texts depict a family in poverty. Bicycle Thieves is set in post- war Italy, and jobs are scarce. The family struggles to make ends meet. Liss’s image is part of a collection that portrays modern poverty. The family in the image sits in a home that lacks proper flooring or insulation. Perhaps due to the cinematic medium, Bicycle Thieves offers a family in poverty that’s actively moving to improve their situation, while Liss’s image is static, providing little detail about the family beyond the single moment in time. The struggles of the family in Bicycle Thieves to find and keep a job may shed light on the unseen struggles of the family in “In the Midst of Plenty” This comparison connects with motherhood (connection number 2) in these two texts because both mothers are in poverty. Although the mothers are doing different actions in each text, they both exist in (and demonstrate love in) a system of poverty. 2 Both texts show a mother and her connection to her children. The mother in Bicycle Thieves demonstrates love to Bruno by acts of service—packing his lunch, selling sheets to provide for the family, etc. The mother in “In the Midst of Plenty” demonstrates love to her children through physical touch and holding them. The differences in how the mothers express love are evident in the two texts—one through acts of service, the other through physical touch. Since the texts depict a moment in history ( Bicycle Thieves ) and a moment in more recent times, perhaps the conclusion could be drawn that motherly love transcends changes in time (and also social status). Both mothers in these texts live in poverty (connection with number 1), however, they both express deep love (maybe even sacrificial love) for their children despite the circumstances. Thesis “Estimate” or possible argument you might make using these two texts as a focus. Citations of the two texts.