World lit survey launch; reading like a comparatist

Compare texts across cultures and write comparative analysis with a clear lens thesis (CCSS RL.9-10.9, W.9-10.2). Comparative reading looks for a shared element (a theme, a form, a character type) and then explains the differences in how each text treats it. A frame tale is a story that contains other stories: One Thousand and One Nights (Scheherazade tells tales to delay her execution), Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (pilgrims tell stories on the way to Canterbury), and Boccaccio's Decameron (ten young people sheltering from the plague tell 100 tales). A lens thesis names the comparison point and the claim: "Both frame tales use storytelling as survival, but Scheherazade saves a life while Chaucer's pilgrims reveal social class." Comparative paragraph structure: claim about both texts → evidence from text A → evidence from text B → analysis of the similarity or difference → link back to the lens. Two essay structures: block (all of A, then all of B) or point-by-point (alternate A and B for each point). Point-by-point usually produces deeper comparison. Lens: storytelling as power. Text A: Nights, stories delay death. Text B: Canterbury, stories compete for a prize. Analysis: both turn tales into tools. Read two short frame-tale selections, chart similarities and differences, then write a comparative paragraph and outline a point-by-point essay with a lens thesis. Usual mistake: Summarizing text A then text B without ever explaining how they connect.