Classroom Writing Assignment 2 Using Wikipedia

This assignment asks students to compare and contrast one Wikipedia article with another. This assignment builds on the first assignment, which asks students to read a Wikipedia article (I have them read a Wikipedia article about the high school they attended/attend), then write a description/summary/evaluation of that article. So to review, the first writing assignment is a description/evaluation essay and the second is a compare/contrast essay.

For my classes, I ask students in the second assignment to compare and contrast the Wikipedia article about their high school with another Wikipedia article about another high school. I suggest to students that they choose the article about their school's rival school although I leave the choice up to students. What I have noted is that the students have a natural curiosity about the kind of information presented about schools other than their own and how that information is presented. Additionally, in examining and comparing two different articles, students come to see differences in a variety of areas: the amount of information, the organization of information, the accuracy of information, just to name a few.

Also, as "experts" about the subject of one the articles, students can comment and write with more authority than they would for other topics. In other words, students know much about the school they attend. While it is true that their knowledge is focused on certain aspects of their school (e.g. athletes know more about sports-related doings at their school), students can write with confidence and authority on at least the aspects they are familiar with.

How I help students with this assignment is by, first of all, providing them with guidance on organizing their discussion because organization is a particularly critical issue in comparison/contrast writing. As such, we talk about the two main ways of organizing information in a compare/contrast essay: one-side-at-a-time and point-by-point. Regarding the latter method, I also assist students with identifying relative points of comparison. When comparing two Wikipedia articles, for example, points that logically lend themselves for examination are quantify of information, organization of information, accuracy of information, objectivity of information presented, and usefulness of information. For teachers who might want to make things easier for students, requiring a discussion of some or all of these specific points might be helpful.

In other words, a written prompt for this assignment might read as follows: Write an essay where you compare and contrast the Wikipedia article about your high school with a Wikipedia article about another high school. In your essay, discuss what is similar and different about these points: the quantify of information, the organization of the information, the accuracy of the information, the objectivity of the information presented, and the usefulness of the information.

When I give this assignment to students, I require a paper of at least two double-spaced pages (about 500 words). Again, the topics that are compared need not be two schools. You should feel free to choose topics for comparison that are appropriate for the discipline and level of the course you are teaching.