9.3: Assignment

“Ain’t I a Woman?” Compare/Contrast Essay

Prompt: Compose an argumentative compare/contrast essay that discusses both published versions of Sojourner Truth’s 1851 “Ain’t I Woman?” speech. In your essay, construct an argument about the two versions and, throughout your essay, prove that thesis by explaining to your reader how the texts are similar and/or different from each other in their argument, evidence, presentation, and language.

We often connotatively use the term “compare” to mean showing the similarities and/or differences between things. In the academic sense, though, a comparison shows how things are similar and a contrast shows how things are different. For our needs, you will be able to compare, contrast, or do both in your essay.

Purpose: Make a clear argument regarding the differences and/or similarities between the two versions of Sojourner Truth’s speech while considering the sources and context, as well as the purpose of the speech itself.

Audience: Your fellow English 101-097 students.

Details:

• MLA formatting: 1” margins on all sides; 12 pt, Times New Roman font; MLA title block in the upper left corner of the first page; MLA page numbers in the upper right-hand corner of each page; double spaced; MLA Works Cited page; etc.
• Minimum 1000 words (including Works Cited page). This equates to about 4 -5 pages in MLA.
• Formal Academic Argument: written to a college audience, follow expectations of academic essays in terms of tone and structure, integrate specific evidence from the text to support the argument (including at least 3 direct quotes in the response portion of your paper).
• Only use third person (he, she, it, him, her, his, hers, its, them, they, theirs). No I, me, my, us, we.

Sample thesis statements

• Mostly Comparison: For their intended audiences, both Robinson and Gage present a nuanced and powerful account of Truth’s 1851 speech.
• Mostly Contrast: Gage’s version of Truth’s 1851 speech relies on racist tropes that detract from Truth’s important message while Robinson’s version uplifts and respects Truth’s message.
• Mostly Contrast: While it is unclear exactly what Sojourner Truth said at the 1851 Women’s conference, Robinson’s version of her speech presents a more believable version of it when compared to Gage’s version’s date of publication, dialect use, and length.
• Mixture of comparison and contrast: Both Gage and Robinson present Truth’s main argument and evidence clearly and fairly even though some of the details differ.