Note to student
Every writing assignment, or prompt, contains a word or words that give you clues as to how to write your response. We call these words “command terms.” In this assignment the command terms are “compare” and “describe.” The first term asks the writer to describe three situations or outcomes and present both the similarities and differences. This requires more than a simple description. The second term asks the writer to describe a situation, event, or outcome. The review should be objective, or neutral, and give a detailed account of the situation, event, or outcome. The writer may follow the description with discussion and analysis.

Compare the approaches to colonization of the Spanish, French, and English. Describe the results of these approaches in North America.

answer:

The study of history helps us make sense of the world around us. When we look to the past for guidance, we can use any number of historians’ tools. One of these tools is comparison. Comparison of historical or contemporary events can be made in real time or in historical time. For example, one can compare the revolution of 2011 in Egypt either to the Tunisian uprising that took place shortly before it, or to a previous revolution in Egypt itself, such as the one in 1952.

Comparisons can only be useful if we understand both similarities and differences, and if one greatly outweighs the other. Looking at the examples above, one might find many similarities to events that happen at about the same time, based on the type of sources consulted or the depth of understanding of the context around the events. Other than that both countries experienced uprisings at roughly the same time, how similar are the histories and cultures of Tunisia and Egypt? You would need to include this in your analysis in order for the comparison to be meaningful.

Explanation: