Free Comparative Literature Essay Examples & Topics
Comparative literature explores the relationship between works of fiction of different cultures and times. Its purpose is to establish the connection between specific genres, styles, and literary devices and the historical period. At the same time, it provides an insight into the meaning hidden between the lines of a given text.
What is a literary comparison essay? This academic paper requires a specific methodology but follows the typical rules. A student is expected to perform comparative textual analysis of a short story, novel, or any other piece of narrative writing. However, it is vital to remember that only the pieces with something in common are comparable.
This is where all the challenges start. Without an in-depth literature review, it is not always clear which works can and should be compared. Which aspects should be considered, and which could be left out? The structure of a comparative essay is another stumbling rock.
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For this reason, our team has prepared a brief guide. Here, you will learn how to write a successful comparative literature essay and, more importantly, what to write in it. And that is not all! Underneath the article, we have prepared some comparative literary analysis essay examples written by students like you.
How to Write a Comparative Essay
Comparative literary analysis requires you to know how to correlate two different things in general. So let us start from the basics. This section explains how to write a comparative paper.
A good comparison essay structure relies on two techniques:
Alternating or point-by-point method.
Using this technique, you dedicate two paragraphs for each new comparison aspect, one for each subject. It is the best way to establish similar and different features in the two novels. Such comparative analysis works best for research, providing a detailed and well-structured text.
1st Body Paragraph: Social problems in Steinback’s works.
2nd Body Paragraph: Social problems in Hemingway’s works.
3rd Body Paragraph: Psychological problems in Steinback’s works.
4th Body Paragraph: Psychological problems in Hemingway’s works.
5th Body Paragraph: Interpersonal problems in Steinback’s works.
Block or subject-by-subject method.
This approach means that you divide your essay in two. The first part discusses one text or author, and the second part analyzes the other. The challenge here is to avoid writing two disconnected papers under one title.
For this purpose, constantly refer the second part to the first one to show the differences and similarities. You should use the technique if you have more than two comparison subjects (add another paragraph for each next one). It also works well when there is little in common between the subjects.
1-3 Body Paragraphs: Description of rural labor in Steinback’s works.
4-6 Body Paragraphs: Description of rural labor in Hemingway’s works.
You will formulate a thesis and distribute the arguments and supporting evidence depending on the chosen structure. You can consult the possible options in our comparative literature essay examples.
How to Conduct Literary Comparison: Essay Tips
Let us move to the main point of this article: the comparison of literature. In this section, we will discuss how to write an ideal essay in this format.
We suggest you stick to the following action plan:
Choose literary works to compare. They should have some features in common. For example, the protagonist faces the same type of conflict, or the setting is the same. You should know the works well enough to find the necessary passages. Check the comparative literature examples below if you struggle with the step.
Select the topic, thinking of similarities. The broader the matter, the more challenging the writing. A comparative study of the protagonists in two books is harder than analyzing the same theme that appears in them. Characters may have little in common, making the analysis more complicated.
Find both differences and similarities. Once you’ve formulated the topic, make a list of features to compare. If the subjects are too different, choose the block method of contrasting them. Otherwise, the alternating technique will do.
Formulate a thesis statement that has a comparative nature. It should convey the gist of the essay’s argument. Highlight the relationship between the books. Do they contradict, supplement, develop, or correct each other? You can start the thesis statement with “whereas.” For example, “Whereas Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice are full of pride, this trait leads them to different troubles.”
Outline and list key elements. Select three to six comparable aspects depending on your essay’s expected length. Then, plan in what order you’ll present them and according to which technique.
Link elements and write. Distribute the features among the comparative paragraphs. If you wish to prove that the books are more different than alike, start with the most diverging factors and move to the most similar ones.
That’s it! Thank you for reading this article. For more examples of comparative literature essays, check the links below.
He thinks about the fact that revenge is not a good action to make his soul get to heavens. His is a prince of Norway, but likewise Hamlet did not receive the crown, he was [...]
As aforementioned, the plot of the two versions of this story is the same; the storyline of the two versions carries a clandestine love affair between Anna and Gurov with a happy conclusion where the [...]
Through the years the author got the new vision of his poems what was expressed by the difference between the imagery of Introductions and the Song's of Nurse in the Songs of Innocence and Songs [...]
After offering prayers to the dead, the people of the river offered the sheep to them and put the remaining parts in a pit that had been dug with shadows of the dead gathering around.
Pages: 5
Words: 1373
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The aspects of human nature that George Orwell criticizes in his work 1984 compared to today's world Orwell in the novel 1984 represents the modern society be it capitalist or communist.
The tone in "To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time" and in "To His Coy Mistress" is the same as the narrators move from persuasion to warning their subjects.
First of all, speaking about similarities between the main characters of Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" and Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels", it should be stated that both of them are an embodiment of men of strong [...]
He thinks such behavior is offensive to his position and his power, this is why this woman is in the past, and the other one is waiting for him downstairs to enlarge Duke's collection of [...]
Both Geoffrey Chaucer and Dante Alighieri wrote in the Middle Ages and were the two most famous and most celebrated writers of that period."Both Dante and Chaucer were active in affairs of their times".
He has the gift of imagination in the highest and strictest sense of the word. In the Romanticism of Wordsworth there is the consciousness and will of a return to natural sources.
It is through his adventures living as Tyler that the Narrator truly explores the dark side of his personality, living not by the laws of society but in direct contrast to them, until the Narrator [...]
This paper examines romantic love as the source of joy and fulfillment in "Romeo and Juliet" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Love is the source of pain and suffering in "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
Although the plot is different in each of these poems, both Annabel Lee and The Raven share the themes of death and lost love, as well as the symbolic language.
Margaret Atwood's book 'The Dancing Girls' is a collection of 16 short stories and the Dancing Girls is one of the stories and has given the name for the collection.
When it comes to ethics, he suggests that the prince should only be concerned with actions that are beneficial to a leader and ones that promote the well-being of his state.
It is possible to compare and contrast two poems, "The Lamb" and "The Tyger", to understand how the poet managed to create evoking and appealing images.
Pages: 2
Words: 567
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Of Cherokee descent, Harjo graduated from the Iowa Writer's Workshop at the University of Iowa and is a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation of Oklahoma.
From the suffering of people in Haiti in the wake of several hurricanes that struck them in 2008 to individuals facing hunger and drought in various states of Africa, as well as the war-torn countries [...]
By introducing the author's explanation of the attorney's intention 'letting go' of the past the author establishes the dynamic of men being bored by the seemingly mundane case. In contrast, Trifles relies on the content [...]
Curry believed that the "stylistics of Faulkner's language...serves to subordinate Emily, ostensibly the subject of the tale, and to elevate the town as the truer subject".
Generally, one is to keep in mind that Baraka is recognized to be one of the most important representatives of the black community, and the theme of racism in The Dutchman has, therefore, some historical [...]
Macbeth ascends to the throne, he is determined to hold on to the throne, and so he must get rid of Banquo and his family because the witches had predicted that the throne would go [...]
This statement by the narrator is a significant tool of characterization because it reveals that the main character is insane. The narrator is also important in revealing the character of the old man.
As a result, their narratives, in tone, in mood, in presentation of self, in degree and kind of analysis of the world around them, reflect these differences.
An example of some literary works that highlight the role of women in our society is a short story titled The Lady with the Dog written by Anton Chekov and The Dead written by James [...]
Iago's reports and the loss of the handkerchief appear to Othello reliable proofs of Desdemona's unfaithfulness, and under the effect of anger the protagonist is both unable and unwilling to do further investigation.
The main conflict of the play is thoroughly intergenerational and lies in Willy's inability to accept the decision of his older son Biff, as the latter is willing to leave town to go to farmland [...]
Pages: 5
Words: 1414
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In this analysis, it is clear that mood in the two pieces of literature is enhanced by the characters and how they act and speak, the manner in which the author advances the plot and [...]
While it is often times criticized as being akin to a form of self loathing what must be understood is that this form of poetry uses the pain of the writer in order to capture [...]
Both the children and the husband will definitely miss her because she is the epitome of their comfort and sustenance."The Mother Return" by Dorothy Wordsworth is a highly sensational poem.
On the other hand, Mina, who is portrayed as the typical modest and moral woman in the Victorian era, ends up being spared of criticisms and punishments in spite of her involvement with the Dracula [...]
The names of places, characters, and events are the same in both the book and the movie. In contrast, in the movie, the story revolves around Bilbo and the dwarves.
The opening scene of The Tragedy of Macbeth starts with the words "fair is foul and foul is fair" that Polanski takes from the end of the Shakespeare's scene.
For example, in his article Dodgson's Dark Conceit: Evoking the Allegorical Lineage of Alice, Andrew Wheat suggest that in Carroll's novel, the character of Alice is being presented as the challenger of 'undeniable truths', as [...]
Walk Whitman was born in the first half of the 1800s and Robert Frost in the second. The use of figurative speech in poetry gives the poems a capacity to reach out to the hearts [...]
As the narration progresses, fear arises in the reader or viewer, and finally, something horrific happens."The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Cask of the Amontillado" share all of the features above, as [...]
This essay aims to explore the elements of defamiliarization that are evident in the two works and to summarize the points to show how the use of this technique differs in the stories.
They are as follows: the presentation of the heroes, the consideration of the ethical themes, and the final stages of the plays the latter help to draw some ethical conclusions based on the peculiarity of [...]
Similarly to Rama, Odysseus belongs to the descendants of Zeus, the king of all gods, and uses a special bow as his favorite weapon. Another difference between Odysseus and Rama is their attitudes to family [...]
The brutality and cruelty of humans to the god and the puppy is laid bare when the puppy dies out of the experiments that are carried on her by the master.
Bernardo and Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" and the tradition of the American in Europe by D. The early versions of that story put Jig and the American man on the train for which they [...]
This is because while the gods are obviously responsible for choosing the path that one's life is to take, it still takes the free will of the involved person to follow that path.
Pages: 4
Words: 1163
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Hence, the leading aspects and themes discussed in both poems are associated with the difficulties in decision-making, influence of life experience on the choices, and consequences of our actions.
One of the most famous examples of the use of the characters taken from Greek mythology in pop culture must be the mentioning of the famous goddess, Venus, in advertising, which is, in fact, based [...]
The present paper argues that whereas in "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt justice is executed fully at the end of the novel due to the fact that all members of the group are punished [...]
In his journey through those worst performances on English women leading a few to suicide, he did not consider the situation and emotions of women he met.
The essay shall analyze the power of social prejudices on the basis of the analysis of "Little things Are Big" by Jesus Colon and "Thank You Ma'am" by Langston Hughes.
This progression toward enlightenment can be most clearly seen by making a comparison between Plato's Allegory of the Cave and the situation in which the man and boy find themselves within McCarthy's novel, particularly in [...]
Although the theme of female body is disclosed differently in two poems, both authors resort to a variety of devices to make the idea clear and to engage the readers in the perception of it.
This theme is portrayed right from the beginning of the story where a boy is rescued from the lions in the wild and is given the name Basat by Dede Korkut.
The works by two famous American Puritan writers of the 17th century Anne Bradstreet and Mary Rowlandson reflect the main features of the Puritan writing because the authors discuss their personal experience concentrating on their [...]
Despite the seeming difference in genre, stylistic choices, characters and settings, the novel Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Langston Hughes' poem A Dream Deferred have a lot in common; in fact, one [...]
As he comes to understand the difference between his servant's and his family's views on life, Ivan begins to realize that he has lived a life of moral death, a life empty of everything save [...]
Pages: 8
Words: 3084
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The fact that both Faulkner and O'Connor were from the South and that they wrote during almost the same period led to many similarities in their style of writing like the religious themes and foreshadowed [...]
The authors of the works managed to underline their perception and vision of American identity and race in the modern world."Unguarded Gates" is a poem written by Thomas Aldrich disclosing the theme of protest.
Science fiction has found its place among the 'great' literatures of the word and hence a contribution in the field of literature. Some of the most sales in literature are in the genre of science [...]
The woman in the poem is a virgin as seen in the title of the poem 'She being Brand' and he expresses sex with this woman as ungraceful, awkward and unskillful.
Although the setting for the song was in a field of barley the reader can easily sense that the composer wanted everyone to know that he is a lover of nature.
Hansberry and Hughes introduce the same idea of a dream compared to a raisin dried up in the sun, but explain it in different ways in order to show how the interpretation of a thought [...]
The purpose of the paper is to compare the use of symbolic roles of blood in the former and the wreath as the symbol of love and admiration in the latter.
There is only one "dancing" character in Yamauchi's literary work and though the woman is not the protagonist of the short story, the theme of dancing becomes a central one due to the strength and [...]
While the book "Dancing Girls" is exploring the emotional state of the foreigner as an aspect of loneliness in the strange land, also it explores the dreams, the objectives of people, who came to the [...]
The way that the community dealt with this transgression of marital bonds comprises the bulk of the story, in which it is finally revealed that the highly respected Reverend Dimmesdale was the father of the [...]
In both The Minister's Black veil and The Birthmark, Hawthorne's use symbolism of symbolism is conspicuous. Hawthorne's use of symbolism comes out clearly in The Minister's Black Veil and The Birthmark.
In preparing for the performance, Hamlet provides the players with specific lines and actions to include within the overall play they are about to perform and gives them lengthy instructions as to the acting of [...]
Thus, it is possible to state that the journey described in Izumi Kyoka's "The Holy Man of Mount Koya" can remind the elements of the journey presented in Matsuo Basho's "The Narrow Road to Oku" [...]
The conflict can be identified at the beginning or in the middle of the story, and it is usually solved at the end. The actions and thoughts of the main characters lead to the resolution [...]
Rosalind is the boy-heroine of As You Like It, who, like her father, deprived of her rightful inheritance, lived a life of captivity as a friend and lady-in-waiting to Celia.
Superiority of white population in the country prevented the African population from establishing fair treatment, which led to the division of the inhabitants in racial groups and residential areas in which various ethnicities lived. The [...]
She is used her hips to symbolize womanhood, freedom, and the need for women to be empowered. The author wanted to express her womanhood and her belief that she is free.
The narrator soon found herself observing the patterns of the yellow wallpaper of the room she stayed in. Eventually, the narrator began to perform the same behavior she observed from the women in the wallpaper.
The authors of these famous texts show in detail how the main characters Gilgamesh and Prospero struggle with the sense of alienation because of their exile, but overcoming this challenging experience, the characters develop their [...]
Upon his refusal, the statue sank to the earth and dragged Don Giovanni down to the earth he is surrounded by the hellfire and the chorus of the demons as he is carried away.
In the second story, the symbol of the past and something that had long gone is the woman's path that implies the historical events of the past the value of life.
The current paper is aimed at comparison of the works through three perspectives: the symbolism of the titles of the two novels, the way colonialism and racism are represented by the authors, and the way [...]
Much ado in the Illiad tells of the dishonor he suffered from Agamemnon, his decision to quit the field because of it, and the futile efforts of the Greeks to appease him and draw him [...]
This paper will look at the features of the stories and characters of Beatrice and Georgiana to demonstrate their main differences with the same ending of their stories.
Driving to work involves the use of evolving technology as every car made today includes varying degrees of computerized information systems that inform the vehicle of important information everything from the need for an oil [...]
In Milton's 'Paradise Lost', the image of hell is clearly visible during the depiction of Satan's fall and also Adam and Eve's fall and the epic concerns the Judo-Christian legend of the fall of men; [...]
The queens in Hamlet and Macbeth play a pivotal role in the life of the heroes of the play. She is portrayed as a mother who, in her awareness of Hamlet's crisis, feels guilty and [...]
In the case of "The Necklace," the story is centered around a woman whose identity does not match her aspirations and dreams of being a member of the wealthy class.
The problem of homeless people that became Dumpsters is discussed in Eighner's essay and the novel written by Walls, providing a deeper insight into the matter and triggering a need to address it.
In the opening chapters of the novel, the author introduces the initial situation by illustrating the life of Esther, a college student, working as an intern at a women's magazine in New York together with [...]
The story of Hindu creation myths differs from Ancient Greek creation myths in a number of facts, including the beginning of the world, and some elements of the creation of the living creatures.
The two characters, Willy Lowman and Troy Maxon, can get a lot of challenges and fences in their quest to achieve the American Dream. One common idea in the two plays, Fences and the Death [...]
The book is based on the story of a farmer and his family, who, due to the problematic nature of the head of the family, are forced to change their place of residence: "None of [...]
Literature is one of the art forms invented by the humanity to reflect the phenomena of the objective reality. As contrasted to Twain's work, "The Law of Life" by London is a depiction of positive [...]
Finally, as Dante and Virgil reach the most bitter, tormented place in the universe, the ninth circle of hell, they immediately depart after seeing Satan and the final circle of the underworld.
It was written after the Restoration, but the powerful voice of the poet declared that the spirit of the Revolution was not broken, that it still lived in the hearts of the people.
The formalist analysis of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep repeats the same mistake, as it focuses on the plot devices and tropes presented in the story.
In Nausea, the main character is a well-traveled 30-year-old man afflicted with intense feelings of the meaninglessness of his own being, an experience he dubs 'nausea.' The main character and narrator, Roquentin, is portrayed as [...]
Both writers show that it is extremely difficult for these women to get used to the role of drover's wife or a person who has to struggle against heavy odds in order to support the [...]
Though both books talk about the food industry and the ills that plague it, it is important to establish that, Eric Schlosser's aim of writing Fast Food Nation was to make the public know the [...]
Pages: 5
Words: 1493
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