(BBHT) Lesson Topic 1: Comparison/Contrast Writing

Lesson Topic 1: Comparison/Contrast Writing

Comparison and contrast are ways of looking at objects and thinking about how they are alike and different.

When you write comparison and contrast, you will pay attention to these kinds of details.

There are two main reasons that people use comparison and contrast:

  1. To explain. You might compare and contrast kinds of food, for instance, to help someone understand which food needs to be refrigerated and which can be stored in a cabinet or in a bowl on the counter.
  2. To evaluate. You might compare and contrast kinds of food to show why one kind of food or brand of food is better than another. For example, apples are a better snack than butter.

When you choose items to compare and contrast, make sure that you choose items that have similarities. You have to choose things that will make sense for comparison and contrast. For instance, it wouldn't make sense to compare a truck with crayons or crayons with a birdhouse. Be sure to compare things that belong together. Compare crayons to pencils or pens, or compare trucks and cars.

When you compare items, you look for their similarities--the things that make them the same. When you contrast items, you look at their differences.

For example, let's compare and contrast apples and oranges:

Comparing Apples and Oranges in a Venn Diagram Apples: - are red - can grow in cooler states, like Washington - have a dense, crisp texture Oranges: - are orange - need a warmer place to grow, like Florida - have a soft, juicy texture Both: - are fruit - are food - are made into juice - grow on trees

 

You probably use comparison all the time. Maybe you want to buy some candy, so you go to the store and look at all of the candy that is available. You can't buy all the candy, so you have to narrow down your choices. You compare and contrast the different kinds of candy so that you can make your decision.

Comparison and contrast are used in your writing to organize an individual paragraph as well as to organize entire papers. For instance, you might write a paper that compares a movie and a book about the same topic. In your paper, you can compare and contrast the movie version with the book version.

As you begin to organize your writing, it's important to make sure that you balance the information about the items that you're comparing and contrasting. You need to be sure that you give them equal time in what you write. If you cover character, setting, and historical accuracy for the book, for instance, you need to be sure that you cover the same elements for the movie.

There are three strategies to organize comparison and contrast papers:

 

Whole-to-Whole or Block Strategy Similarities-to-Differences Strategy Point-by-Point Strategy
In this structure, you say everything about one item and then everything about the other. For instance, say everything about the characters, setting, and plot for the book then everything about the characters, setting, and plot for the movie. In this structure, you explain all the similarities between the items being compared and then you explain all the differences. For instance, you might explain that the characters and plot were similar in both the book and movie in one section. In the next section, you could explain that the settings were different. The book took place during the summer while the movie took place during the winter. In this structure, you explain one point of comparison before moving to the next point. For instance, you would write about the characters in the book and movie in one section; then you would write about the setting in the book and movie in the next section.

 

In comparison and contrast, transition words tell a reader that the writer is changing from talking about one item to the other. Transitional words and phrases Links to an external site. help make a paper smoother and more coherent by showing the reader the connections between the ideas that are being presented. 

There are three main things to pay attention to as you write a comparison and contrast paper:

  1. Purpose & Supporting Details
  2. Organization & Structure
  3. Transitions & Coherence

Also, please be sure to pay attention to the usual requirements for writing, such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

 

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