(Student’s Full Name)
The structure of compare and contrast that Mark Twain uses is a subject-by-subject structure. The first two paragraphs talk about the positive features of the Mississippi River while the last two paragraphs focuses on the river from a negative perspective. The essay structure is effective because it shows how the narrator, who was once appreciative of the best parts of the river, gradually loses his appreciation of it because of the pollution that has taken place. For instance, the narrator begins by stating the following: “The face of the water, in time, a wonderful bookwhich told his mind to me without reserve, delivering its most cherished secrets” (Twain1). On the other hand, in the third paragraph the narrator states the following: “But as I have said, a day came when I began to cease from noting the glories and the charmswrought upon the river’s face” (Twain 2). In the first instance, the narrator could identify the minutest details of the river in the same manner that one reads a book. However, the other instance shows the narrator losing the ability to notice the best features of the Mississippi River. In addition, the compare and contrast structure identifies the gradual contamination of the Mississippi River and its surroundings. For example, the narrator states that the “surface [of the river] was broken by boiling, tumbling rings, that were as many tinted as opal” (Twain 1). In another instance, the narrator states that “those tumbling ‘boils’ show a dissolving bar and a changing channel there” (Twain 2). In the first instance, the “boiling, tumbling rings” are perceived as beautiful features of the river; whereas, in the other instance, these “boiling, tumbling rings” are causing the gradual deterioration of the river channels and bar, thereby indicating that the Mississippi River was badly polluted.
Work Cited
Twain, Mark. "Mark Twain: Two Views of the Mississippi (1883)." Mnstate.edu. Minnesota State University. Web. 11 Feb. 2016. <http://web.mnstate.edu/gracyk/courses/phil of art/printer-friendly/Mark Twain.pdf>.
