Question

Is this opening paragraph and thesis valid for a comperative essay, or should it have more to do with direct comparisons between the two short stories:

Answer 1

In the context of literary texts, fiction is, to a great extent, an essentially rhetorical art. For a fictional work to succeed, it is important that the author, consciously or unconsciously, create notions about the world in the reader's mind, through narrative context, word choice and structure. Virtually always an author will do this in some form, be it obvious or somewhat remote, though in most instances, an author's ability in writing is often characterized by their ability to create such notions in the reader's mind. For the purposes of this essay, I will be comparing the short stories “A Hunger Artist” by Franz Kafka and “A Lamp at Noon” by Sinclair Ross in the topic of fiction as a rhetorical art to provide supporting evidence for my thesis.

Answer 2

Somebody please help, ideally someone who's done a comparative essay before.

Answer 3

you do not have to give direct comparisons in your opening paragraph. I like to use the opening paragraph to set the stage. I am not quite clear on what you are comparing but your first two sentences are very clear and well written. the third sentence has a couple grammar issues but over all a very good opening paragraph. I have written several compare/contrast essays.