Comparative Essay - "A good man is hard to find", and "the faery handbag"

Hi!! I am stuck on my first paragraph, I feel like I have been writing for hours with no luck.
I am writing a comparative essay on "A good man is hard to find", and "the faery handbag". I am breaking down their plot, theme, and characterization to compare and contrast the two. How do I start??

This is what I have so far:S

There are three prominent literary elements that enable the reader to compare and contrast Flannery O'Connor's 'A good Man is Hard to Find', and Kelly Link's 'The Faery Handbag'. Plot, theme, and characterization

I need your help!

I know what you mean, Chloe, I hate that!!

google this: compare contrast essay. bookrags.com/articles/5.html

Do not write the intro paragraph first! Write it at the end, after you see the form the essay has taken.

Start by thinking about the truth behind each book, the meaning. Do they conflict with each other? That would be interesting. Are both authors saying the same thing in different ways? Write a paragraph that tells about the main idea of one book, and maybe throw in a quote, and then write a para about the main idea of the other book.

You'll build momentum, and the essay will take form.

I like Kevin's method of doing things, but when I find myself particularly stuck at the beginning of an essay I actually take an opposite approach, and try to figure out more accurately what I want to say before I begin the real essay writing.

An outline might be very useful to you here, especially since you know your body is going to need three main sections (maybe three paragraphs, maybe more, but definitely three sections): plot, theme, and characterization. Start by asking yourself questions: how are the plots of these two stories similar and different? What about the themes? Characterization? Jot your ideas down for each section separately (don't try to tackle them all at once). An outline of your body paragraphs should emerge from this, and your writer's block should be gone!

If you're still struggling to come up with an introduction after you know what you want to say, then I would definitely start writing the body of the essay first and see where it leads you. Expect to do some editing, though--a clear introduction (and conclusion) is the result of a finely honed point to the essay; once you find this point in writing your body paragraphs you will need to pare them down to keep focus.