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Comparative Essay

Comparative Essay. Another skill historians attempt to master is the ability to compare what is happening in one region or place in the world with what is happening in another region or place in the world during the same historical time period

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Comparative Essay

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  1. Comparative Essay • Another skill historians attempt to master is the ability to compare what is happening in one region or place in the world with what is happening in another region or place in the world during the same historical time period • EX: Compare political transformations in the Middle East with political transformations in Latin America from c. 1945 to present day.

  2. Comparative Essay • The Comparative Essay assesses your ability to apply this historical skill based on your knowledge of the regions and time period.

  3. Comparative Essay • 4 Important Elements of the Comparative Essay: • Thesis – MUST be specific and valid • Cannot be simply “There were many similarities and differences…” • No need to keep your essay main ideas a secret – just state your specific comparisons in your thesis and restate them again as the topic sentence for the respective body paragraph • Direct Comparison – you must make a valid, specific, and QUANTIFIABLE direct comparison sentence(s) in your body paragraphs. • Usually this is your topic sentence • Quantifiable means you have to add an adjective or describing word to help the reader identify your comparison

  4. Comparative Essay • 4 Important Elements of the Comparative Essay: • Evidence – you must provide Specific Factual Information (or SFI) as evidence for your direct comparison • Analysis – you must ANALYZE the reason for the similarity or difference you identify with your direct comparison.

  5. Comparative Essay • Which is a better Thesis statement? • There were many political similarities and differences between Han China and the Roman Empire. • There were many political similarities and differences between Han China and the Roman Empire such as degree of centralization and size of the empires. • While Han China had a more centralized political system than the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire was larger and included many non-Romans within its ruling class.

  6. Comparative Essay • Which is a valid, specific, and QUANTIFABLE direct comparison statement? • Both the Han and Roman Empires had governments. • While both the Han and Roman Empires had centralized governments made up of bureaucrats, governors, nobles, and the Emperor, the Han Empire was much more centralized than the Roman Empire. • Both the Han and Roman Empires had centralized governments made up of bureaucrats, governors, nobles, and the Emperor.

  7. Comparative Essay • Analysis of the direct comparison • This is the hardest part of this essay • You must give a reason WHY this similarity or difference exists OR why this similarity or difference is SIGNIFICANT • You MUST address both areas in the analysis • Example: While both the Han and Roman Empires had centralized governments made up of bureaucrats, governors, nobles, and the Emperor, the Han Empire was much more centralized than than the Roman Empire. • WHY… • Did both empires have centralized governments? • Was the Han Empire’s government much more centralized than the Roman Empire?

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  10. Comparative Essay Process • Let’s see if you can create an essay framework by comparing river valley civilizations! Handout: Comparative Essay Process

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