Compare the conflicted minds of Dr. Jekyll and Macbeth, using context and identifying language from the texts.

Based on your question, it is not clear if you are writing an entire essay and this is just one idea for one paragraph, or if you only need to write one paragraph. Either way, here is one way in which you might organize that type of paragraph. The quotes you choose from each text are up to you, as there are many options from both that would be effective.

1st: your paragraph needs a...

Based on your question, it is not clear if you are writing an entire essay and this is just one idea for one paragraph, or if you only need to write one paragraph. Either way, here is one way in which you might organize that type of paragraph. The quotes you choose from each text are up to you, as there are many options from both that would be effective.

1st: your paragraph needs a topic sentence that makes a claim about both Dr. Jekyll and Macbeth's conflicted minds. What are you trying to say about them? This first sentence is like a mini thesis statement and provides the guide for the rest of the paragraph.

2nd: Provide a bit of context for each character, using similar information. For example, both struggle with hidden desires. It would be tempting here to give A LOT of background on each character here, but you only need to provide enough information on each one to make sense for the point you're trying to prove in this paragraph, so refer back to your topic sentence to stay on track.

3rd: This takes place at the same time as step 2. You are going to include a brief quote from each text to support the context you have provided. These quotes are the identifying language that you need. For example, if you said that both struggle with hidden desires, provide an example from the text immediately afterward, like Jekyll saying he "stood already committed to a profound duplicity of life." 

For more help with analyzing each of these characters, see the character analysis pages for each story below.

4th: Likely, your teacher also wants you to analyze this information a little bit. Here is where you would do that - why is the information you have shared important? What do we learn about the characters in the examples you have provided. You want to provide commentary here.

5th: If this is a paragraph within an essay, you want to end the paragraph with a transition sentence into the next paragraph's main idea (topic sentence). If this is a sole paragraph, you want to end with a concluding sentence.