Native American Comparison Paper

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Unit 1. Pre-Colonial America Comparison/Contrast essay Two Native American Regions The point of a comparison/contrast essay is to show how two separate things are both alike and unlike. In this essay, you will be showing how two regions of North America produced two cultures that were both similar to one another and distinct from one another. To build your essay, you will use information from your GGREASES chart and your MARZANO comparison matrix. In your conclusion, you will speculate about why differences occurred between these two groups, and why similarities arose. You will compare these native groups based on four criteria: Geography, Food, Art/Architecture and any one other area from your charts. 1. PARAGRAPH ONE Introduce the two groups you will be comparing, giving some tribal names and the bases of your comparison. Then, preview your conclusion. For instance: I will be comparing the native groups of the southeast (which include the Cherokee, the Creek, and the Seminoles) to the native groups of the Plains (which include the Cheyenne, the Crow and the Blackfoot). I will be comparing these groups based on the following criteria: Geography, Economy/Food, Art/Architecture and Religion. I will show that these two groups differed because the Plains Indians were more nomadic, and the Southeastern groups were more stable. 2. PARAGRAPH TWO Put the first subject heading above the paragraph in ALL CAPITALS and then start comparing or contrasting your two groups to one another. Use two criteria together to show how they influence one another. For instance: GEOGRAPHY AND ECONOMY/FOOD While the native groups of the Southwest lived in a desert environment of deep canyons and high flat-topped mesas, rugged mountains and ancient volcanoes, the groups of the Northeast lived in a region of forests, lakes, rivers and ocean. Whereas the Southwestern tribes relied

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on hardy crops such as corn, beans and squash, the Northeasterners moved around based on season to hunt and gather crops in the wild. 3. PARAGRAPH THREE Write about ART/ARCHITECTURE and one or two other categories (your choice). For instance: ART/ARCHITECTURE AND RELIGION or ART/ARCHITECTURE AND GOVERNMENT or ART/ARCHITECTURE, RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT. (IMPORTANT: CHOOSE YOUR CATEGORY BASED ON WHAT IS MOST DIFFERENT OR SIMILAR ABOUT THE TWO GROUPS.) 4. CONCLUSION (PARAGRAPH FOUR) For your conclusion, write your theory about why the two groups you studied were either so similar to—or so different from—one another. This theory should be an educated guess (also called an “inference”), which reveals your knowledge of your groups as you use what you know to try to answer a hard-to-answer question. THE FINAL DRAFT OF YOUR PAPER MUST BE VERY NEATLY WRITTEN, OR TYPED IN A READABLE 12-POINT FONT (TIMES NEW ROMAN, COURIER, HELVETICA OR ARIAL). DOUBLE SPACE. 5. CITING SOURCES As much as possible, cite your sources in your paper. For example: The northeast region of North America is an area of forests, lakes, rivers and ocean (Zimmerman 38). 6. SOURCES CITED PAGE You need a sources cited page. Here, you list the books you used to do your project and create your paper. You need to use the following format (the example used is from the book we all used most often). Zimmerman, Larry. Native North America. London: Duncan Baird Publishers, 1996. Websites used are formatted like this: Cherokee Religion. Cherokee by Blood. 2003

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. Your grading rubric will be based on quality of information, following of format, neatness, organization and proper citation of sources. Examples of Paragraph-Starting Sentences that Compare or Contrast (taken from last year’s literature papers): COMPARISON SENTENCES Just as Sula does in Sula, Christopher McCandless lives by his own rules. Willy’s inability to understand what Biff wants out of life is comparable to the Sonny’s Blues narrator’s inability to understand Sonny’s need to make music. Mattie Michael’s actions are often about what’s best for her son, much like Linda Loman’s actions are all about protecting Willy’s vision of himself; both characters are self-sacrificing and unselfish. CONTRASTING SENTENCES Whereas Willy dies without ever understanding what Biff wants from life, the narrator of Sonny’s Blues finally accepts his brother’s need to make music at that story’s end. While Sula is motivated by a desire to be one with Nel, Christopher McCandless is motivated partly by a desire to be free of other people. Christopher McCandless is a person who is running away from home and family in order to be free, but Christopher Boone is running away in order to once more be his mother’s son.