Writing A Solid Comparative Essay On The Catcher In The Rye

If you are studying English or any other subject that requires you to read and write about various pieces of literature then you may have been asked to write an essay based on the Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. If this is the case then there are a variety of different styles of academic paper that you may have been asked to use as the basis for your piece of work. For example, it may be the case that you have been asked to write a comparative essay on the Catcher in the Rye.

A comparative essay will essentially require you to identify various themes and topics, which you will then compare with one another. As a result, when it comes to comparing various themes related to a piece of literature, you have a wide range of different approaches that you can take. In fact, when it comes to the Catcher in the Rye, you are almost spoilt for choice when it comes to what you can write about.

Some ideas for things to write about

The following outlines various approaches that you may wish to take with your paper. For example, you may wish to compare the slang and colloquial speech used in the book with the kind of language used in the present day by young people. Despite having been written in the middle of the 20th century, some of the colloquial language is still relevant today, whilst other words may seem a bit outdated. As a result, you can compare the use of present-day colloquial language and see how similar or different it may be to that which was used in the Catcher in the Rye.

Alternatively, the book focuses on various different themes, such as teenage angst; therefore, you could compare the experiences relating to teenage angst in Catcher in the Rye with any causes and experiences relating to teenage angst that are associated with youths in the present day.

Another idea that you may wish to explore as part of your paper, is the possibility of comparing different themes in the book, and potentially how they work together, despite potentially being quite different ideas, such as belonging and alienation. Essentially, you may wish to look at how each theme is used in its own right, and how the different themes combined together within the story as well.