Writing to Compare Compare and contrast the authors' choices regarding language, structure, and content. Use
these questions to guide your analysis:
• Text structure: From what key memory or episode does each essay spring? In what order
does the author present information? How does each author connect a specific event to
larger ideas?
• Timeframe: What is the chronological scope of the essay? How does such a scope of time-
long or short-help express a central idea?
• Voice: Is the voice formal, or casual? What is the tone? How do words, phrases, and
sentences create that tone?