Comparative english essay?

I have found that the easiest thing to do is picking two novels that are part of the same literary trend and comparing how the author or authors used the elements of that particular genre; what makes them similar or dissimilar, how do they adhere to the social norms of the time, what impact did they have on the audience- one of them could have been more influential than others, or caused more unrest among the masses, etc.

for example, you could do something like naturalism in Hardy's novels : Jude the Obscure vs The Mayor of Casterbridge. His poems are the only aspect of his work that makes it to US textbooks and that really is a shame.

Your teacher will definitely be impressed...if you're still in high school