Comparison & Contrast Essay examples

Words: 1012
Pages: 5

Essay 2 Scott Momaday’s “The Way to Rainy Mountain” and Bobbie Ann Mason’s “Being
Country” are two the texts to be compared. Though they share similarities, they too are quite different. They both share similar topics, in that they are two stories of cultures, but written from different perspectives of their cultures. Momaday is from the Kiowas tribe of the plains of
Oklahoma, and Mason from a farm in Mayfield, Kentucky. Both exhibit some comparisons, but mostly contrasts throughout their writing. Momaday’s American Indian heritage dates back to the 1880’s when his grandmother was born, where Mason’s dairy farm heritage takes place starting when she was born in 1940. I found both to be stories of each of the author’s lives
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She never even tried to teach me to cook.
‘You didn’t want to learn’ she says now. ‘You were a lady of leisure, and you didn’t want to help. You had your nose in a book”. (106) Though she never considered herself to be poor, there

were many things they didn’t have. Their wardrobes consisted of three sets. There were clothes for school, every day, and Sunday clothes. Never to use one set for any unintended use. Mama wouldn’t have that. Her mom preferred the outdoor life and was a natural cook. Everything they needed to prepare the most complete meals were provided from the farm with the exception of flour, sugar, and salt. She didn’t miss a lick. Every detail was taken care of by the ingenuity and resourcefulness of Mama. They did venture into town on occasion, where Mason was exposed to some of the highlights of her dreams. Things like big band music, ladies stores, banks, drug stores, and the poolroom that blew “intoxicating smell of hamburgers in your face”. (107) “But hamburgers in town were better. They were greasier, and were wrapped in waxed paper packages”. (108) Living in the country, Mason didn’t have luxuries like those found in town.
Things like peppermint ice cream or even more simple things that you and I wouldn’t take notice of. “They served store bought food-coconuts, pineapples, and Vienna sausages”. (108) None of which you would find on most any farm in Kentucky. Though these two writings share similarities like