Assignment
Compare and contrast the ways in which Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and Martel’s Life of Pi address a shared theme, concern, or issue.
Strategies
Begin by selecting a shared theme or issue that you want to explore in your essay. As you write, look for areas of both matches and mismatches between the two texts. Additionally, consider how each book uses “unbelievable” events or stories to enhance their treatment of this topic.
You do not need to give equal weight to each text, nor do you have to devote equal space to exploring similarities and differences. You can choose to emphasize similarity over difference, difference over similarity, or one text over the other (you must discuss both texts in the body of your paper, however). Regardless of what you choose to emphasize, your thesis must clearly map out your comparison and illustrate that comparison’s purpose.