In a well-crafted, well-developed, and well-edited essay, please compare A Raisin in the Sun with either POOF! or Trifles. The essay should be approximately 4-5 pages in length, double spaced and in MLA format; you will need to locate at least one journal article or scholarly book chapter —though more would be great— to use in your discussion. Include a thesis at the beginning of the essay that indicates the main point you’ll be discussing. As is typically the case when you write an essay, you do NOT have to discuss everything in the plays—you should narrow your focus to one interesting aspect and develop a discussion that explores that aspect in detail. VERY IMPORTANT: You CANNOT just say, “They have some similarities and differences,” but, instead, you need to think about what they have in common, how they differ, and then take a position. Show us something new! Examples: • While both PLAY 1 and PLAY 2 comment on TOPIC , the following comparison will show [IDENTIFY SOMETHING NEW]. • While both PLAY 1 and PLAY 2 engage with TOPIC , there is more emphasis on X in PLAY I, which [IDENTIFY SOMETHING NEW]. • A comparison of character, setting, and theme demonstrates how PLAY 1 provides a stronger [IDENTIFY SOMETHING NEW] than PLAY 2. In other words, your comparison should show us SOMETHING NEW about the two plays that we didn’t see before. (Think about when you compare two films in a discussion with your friends…you are basically arguing that one is more “something” than the other, right? Your discussion—your claims and specific evidence from the text—helps your friends to see the film the same way that you did. It’s the “something new” for them.) Be specific, use appropriate literary vocabulary (to get an A on this exam, you will need to use the *specific dramatic terms* which were defined in the readings and in lecture), and include textual evidence/quotation where appropriate to support your claims. MLA style, as always, please. Here are the instructions for locating a journal article via the library databases: • Go to http://library.auraria.edu/ (or, from MSU Home Page, just click the Library tab) • Under “Start My Research,” type in your search term. • When the results appear, go to the options on the left-hand menu. • Under “refine your search,” click “Items with full text online” and “Limit to articles from scholarly publications, including peer-review.” Since there are LOTS of articles, you will want to experiment with search terms to find something useful. (e.g., A Raisin in the Sun and treatment of women OR Lorraine Hansberry and gender). Finally, you will need to make a “Works Cited” list in MLA format (remember to use the MLA online guidelines if you need help with formatting)—include both the text you are discussing (A Raisin in the Sun and any other literary text) AND the critical article/chapter(s) that you found.