The assignment for this lesson is to write an essay that compares and contrasts "the nose" by nikolai gogol and another magical realist story that you find through research. your focus in the essay will be on the tone of the two sources. you should have created a draft of this assignment in the writing activity called "prepare a compare-and-contrast essay." if you didn't complete that activity, you should go back and do so now. if you have already completed the draft, continue to the next page to start revising. this writing assignment focuses on the following skills: • conducting research to find a magical realist story identifying key parts of two stories to quote or paraphrase • writing an essay comparing the two stories