Guidelines for Interpretive/Comparative Essay

Pick your favorite two (2) chapters out of the six (6) chapters from Founding Brothers, by Joseph Ellis and write an interpretive/comparative essay based on those chapters.  The essay must be typewritten, double-spaced and at least five (5) but no more than seven (7) pages.  The essay should answer the following questions:
Interpretive
1.What are the stories about?  Give a brief synopsis of each chapter.
2.Why were the episodes important to American history?
3.What did you learn reading these stories?
4.What was your overall impression of these stories?  Did you like them? Why? Why not?
Comparative
1.Did the author do a better job of telling the story in one or the other chapter?  Why do you think so?
2.Can you find any connections between the two stories (either the subject or the individuals involved).  If so, what are they?
3.How does the story compare with what youve heard or read (either previously or in your current textbook) about the subject?

The final draft is due: Sunday, November 15 at 11:59 pm.  LATE PAPERS will be PENALIZED 10% PER DAY LATE

Grammar, punctuation and spelling will be part of your grade so make sure you proofread your papers (and remember, spellcheck will not always catch all mistakes).  Footnotes will not be necessary, but if you use a direct quote, cite it by using the authors name and page number in parentheses: (Ellis, 29). 

Some of the grammatical points I will be looking for include, but are not limited to:
–Do not use colloquial expressions. Slang is inappropriate in an academic paper.
–Avoid using all first and second person pronouns in your writing;
    Examples include me, my, I, we, our, us, you, and your.
Instead of saying, I believe the author was  Just say, The author was  Youre writing it so I know its your opinion.   
–Avoid using contractions in formal writing.  Use did not instead of didnt.