How do I compare two texts of different genres in an essay?

Comparing texts of different genres can sometimes seem daunting, but is easier than you think. The most effective way to make the comparison is to think about the theme, or themes, that you are comparing the texts on. A simple example might be something like comparing the theme of love in one of Shakespeare's plays, like Othello, and a collection of his sonnets. Despite the difference in the size of the texts, the way the theme is treated may be similar (and this applies to vastly different texts, for example Jane Eyre and Shakespearean sonnets). The best step to make comparisons in essays is to choose three or four points that you are going to look at and break your essay down into. This will mean that you are addressing the texts together and not separately. So, for example, your first point of comparison might be imagery. When looking at the texts if you pick-up on the different images they use to describe the theme - say if one author describes love as a bright sun, and the other describes it as darkening cloud - you will be comparing and contrasting the texts, which is an essential part of the Assessment Objectives (AOs) to get marks. Having recognised the comparison, going on to draw out whether one of the authors is being sarcastic, or purposefully being disingenuous due to the character's self-denial or public concealment, then this will lead you on to make even better and more deeper comparisons between the texts. If you focus on addressing universal techniques in literature - such as imagery, style, literary techniques (oxymorons etc.) - then comparing texts of different genres is no harder than comparing texts of the same genre, and indeed can lead to more interesting comparisons.