Compare or Contrast Essay You compare or contrast every day. Should you eat pizza for lunch or a salad? You look at the benefits of pizza, the benefits of salad, and then make your decision.

Developing Your Essay Two patterns for organization Choose one and stick to it throughout. Point-by-point The Block

Thesis Sentence Mom’s Hamburger Haven is a much better restaurant than McPhony’s because of its superior food, service and atmosphere.

Pattern One: Point by Point Point 1: Food –A. Mom’s –B. McPhoney’s Point 2: Service: –A. Mom’s –B. McPhoneys Point 3: Atmosphere –A. Mom’s –B. McPhony’s

Now, it’s your turn! Pair up with a neighbor and try a point by point with this thesis: Hands down, Britney Spears is a better performance artist than Christina Aguilera because of her superior lip- syncing, dancing and costumes.

Here is a template Point One: –A: –B: Point Two –A: –B: Point Three –A: –B:

It Should look like this: Point One: Lip-Syncing –A:Britney –B:Christina Point Two: Dancing –A:Britney –B:Christina Point Three: Costumes –A:Britney –B:Christina

Remember our original thesis statement? Mom’s Hamburger Haven is a much better restaurant than McPhony’s because of its superior food, service and atmosphere.

Pattern Two: The Block A. Mom’s –1. Food –2. Service –3. Atmosphere B. McPhony’s –1. Food –2. Service –3. Atmosphere

Now it’s your turn! Pair up with your neighbor again and put the same thesis sentence into the block pattern. Hands down, Britney Spears is a better performance artist than Christina Aguilera because of her superior lip-syncing, dancing and costumes.

Here is a template A: –1: –2: –3: B: –1: –2: –3:

Here’s what it should look like A: Britney –1: Lip-syncing –2: Dancing –3: Costumes B: Christina –1: Lip-syncing –2: Dancing –3: Costumes

Key words to use in your essay Comparison –Also –Similarly –Too –Both –Like –Not only…but also –Have in common –Share the same –In the same manner Contrast –However –On the contrary –On the other hand –In contrast –Although –Unlike –Though –Instead of –But