Using Trifles, “The Story of an Hour,” and “A Rose for Emily” choose two of the stories to write your three part compare and
contrast essay.
1. The essay must be clearly organized.
2. Focus on a strong thesis statement and smooth transitions that help illuminate the relationships between the ideas in
the paper.
3. I expect you to be capable of producing an error-free essay.
4. As always, type your paper using MLA format in Times New Roman 12 point font, double-spaced, with 1” margins. Use a
proper MLA heading and remove all extra spaces (set line spacing to zero, not auto).
5. A minimum of three full pages, and a maximum of six full pages. Not including works cited page.
6. ALL ESSAYS MUST BE SUBMITTED TO TURNITIN.COM by the due date.
Your task is to analyze two of the literary works by comparing/contrasting elements of the stories. Remember, the goal is not
simply to compare two of the stories, but to find an element to analyze, and then use compare and contrast to find deeper
meaning in the stories.
You may choose any element that is applicable, for example, you may choose to write about setting in “A Rose for Emily” and in
Trifles. This is an element that can be compared/contrasted to each other: In “A Rose for Emily” the setting is a southern town
soon after the Civil War, where traditions are trying to hold on, yet time is moving forward. This is important to the story because
it sets up how the towns
folk treat Emily as well as being a commentary on how difficult it may have been for southern towns to
move forward after the Civil War (and Emily herself is symbolic of those traditions). Whereas, in Trifles the setting is another
small town, in the dead of winter, where the cold weather is a metaphor for a cold marriage. Setting is important to both of these
stories, yet it is important in different ways. You can expand on the ways setting is important, and how it effects each story (thus,
comparing and contrasting the setting in them both). Setting isn’t the only option – you could talk about the notion of love and
being loved (Think about how in “The Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard does not lack love, her husband loves her, her family loves
her, everyone seems to be very loving, yet she still feels trapped in her life. But, in “A Rose for Emily” Emily lacks love, and so she
decides that she will find and keep the person that she loves, one way or another). You could discuss gender roles, the
importance of social connections, death, symbolism (birdcages in Trifles, the “rose” in “A Rose for Emily”)… the choice is yours.
These are just suggestions, you are welcome to come up with your own as well.
Use the Compare and Contrast PowerPoint to guide you on how to formulate your paper: you may choose to do a side by side
compare/contrast or a point by point, whichever suits your writing and your paper best.