COMPARE and CONTRAST ESSAY on THE NECKLACE and THE GIFT OF THE MAGI

You can either do a vin diagram or a “t-chart” showing how “Della”, the character in “The Gift of the Magi”, and “Madame Loisel” in “The Necklace” are alike and how are they different.

Both Della and Mathilde are:
Impoverished
Married
Young adults
Beautiful
“Their best qualities were given to them at birth.” (Beauty and grace.)
They both like to flaunt what they have
Della flaunts her hair. Mathilde flaunts her necklace

They dress plainly.
They both seek luxury.
They are living during the turn of the century.
They both have caring husbands.
They both grieved over some loss.

HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT?
DELLA
She loved her husband very much
Very giving to her husband
She cut off her hair to buy him a gift
Della was grateful for what she had.

Mathilde
She is a fake.
She wanted people at the party to believe she was rich.
She wanted to be envied and to be found fascinating.
She is very bitter about what she doesn't have
She is very selfish and probably doesn't love her husband very much.

Now, choose three specific ways in which the two women are similar and three specific ways in which the two women are different. Dive back into the text to find evidence to support your claim. You can either paraphrase (put into your own words) or use a direct quotation.

For tonight's homework: Try your hand at writing the opening paragraph of your compare and contrast essay. Be sure to include the thesis statement (a sentence which tells us what the essay is about and your position on this topic) and the titles of both short stories, and the names of the writers. The opening paragraph should also develop the thesis statement. In other words, don't just write the thesis statement but expand on it. The entire opening paragraph should be six to eleven lines long. Have fun!

Format for the body paragraph:
Mini-thesis statement
At least one to two sentences developing the mini-thesis statement
Evidence from the text to support your mini-thesis statement
Evidence can be either a direct quotation or paraphrased.
At least one to two sentences commenting on your evidence
Concluding or transitional sentence leading to the next body paragraph

There should be three body paragraphs.

Concluding paragraph:
Quickly go over your main points
Final concluding thought(s) on the theme of the stories.