Compare or Contrast

General Info Comparison and contrast are ways of looking at objects and thinking about how they are alike and different. For instance, all of these items are alike because they are kinds of food, but there are many ways that they are different. For instance, they belong to different food groups. Some must be cooked before eating, and some can be eaten raw. When you write comparison and contrast, you will pay attention to these kinds of details.

General Info 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 need 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.

Essay Organization 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.

Essay Organization 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.

Essay Organization There are three strategies to organize comparison and contrast papers: 1. Whole-to-Whole, or Block 2. Similarities-to-Differences 3. Point-by-Point

Essay Organization Whole-to-Whole or Block Strategy In this structure, you say everything about one item 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.

Essay Organization Whole-to-Whole comparison and contrast uses a separate section or paragraph for each item you're discussing. For a paper comparing and contrasting a book to a movie, the section for Item #1 would include everything about the book and the section for Item #2 would cover everything about the movie. The points in each of the sections should be the same and they should be explained in the same order (for instance, you might discuss character, setting, and plot for both, and in that order for both).

Essay Organization Similarities-to-Differences Strategy In this structure, you explain all the similarities about 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 the 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.

Essay Organization Similarities-to-Differences comparison and contrast uses a separate section or paragraph for similarities and differences. In other words, the body of your paper would have two large sections: one for similarities, and another for differences.

Essay Organization Point-by-Point Strategy 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.

Essay Organization Point-by-Point comparison and contrast uses a separate section or paragraph for each point. Point #1 for your paper could be information about the characters in the book and the movie. You'd begin a section or paragraph for Point #2. For consistency, begin with the same item in each section of your point-by-point paper. For instance, for each point that you discuss, explain the information about the book first and then about the movie.

Prewriting Graphic organizers are useful tools for gathering details about the items that you are comparing and contrasting. Venn Diagrams help you think about where the various characteristics of the items being compared and contrasted fit. The Compare and Contrast Chart is more like a listing tool, where you can brainstorm a list of ways that the items are alike and different.

Prewriting A 2-Circle Venn Diagram is made up of two overlapping circles that allow you to organize information about two items that you are comparing and contrasting. You write the characteristics of the items inside the circles. Features that apply to both go in the overlapping portion (the middle) of the two circles. When you're done, you'll have your information divided into similarities (the overlapping part) and differences (the non-intersecting parts).

Prewriting A 3-Circle Venn Diagram is made up of three overlapping circles. It is more complex because there are more ways for items to overlap. Features that apply to two items go in the overlapping portion of their circles (for instance, the Sun and Moon are in the Milky Way). Features shared by all three go in the middle (for instance, the Sun, Moon, and Stars are in the sky). As with the 2-Circle Diagram, when you're done, your information will be divided into similarities (the overlapping part) and differences (the non-intersecting parts).

Prewriting A Compare and Contrast Chart is made up of a series of boxes that you can fill in to gather information about the two items that you are comparing and contrasting. You write the names of your items at the top then fill in the boxes with details about how the items are alike and different. This chart is an easy way to divide the characteristics of the items that you are comparing into similarities (items in the upper box) and differences (items in the two bottom boxes).

Transitions 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 help make a paper smoother and more coherent by showing the reader the connections between the ideas that are being presented.

Transitions When you're comparing items, using a transition from this list will signal to readers that you're changing from one item to the next and it will also tell the reader that the two items are similar. Here are some examples: The characters in the movie were very similar to the characters in the book. Both the characters in the movie and in the book were interested in detective work.

Transitions On the other hand, using one of the transitions from this list of words will signal readers that the two items you're discussing are different. Here are some examples: The setting in the book was summer while the setting in the movie was winter. The events in the book took place during several afternoons, but the events in the movie took place during the evening.

Checklist 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 In addition, be sure to pay attention to the usual requirements for writing, such as spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

Checklist Comparison & Contrast Checklist 1. Purpose & Supporting Details a. The paper compares and contrasts items clearly. b. The paper points to specific examples to illustrate the comparison. c. The paper includes only the information relevant to the comparison.

Checklist 2. Organization & Structure a. The paper breaks the information into the whole-to-whole, similarities-to-differences, or point-by-point structure. b. The paper follows a consistent order when discussing the comparison. c. The paper breaks the information into appropriate sections or paragraphs to the ideas.

Checklist 3. Transitions & Coherence a. The paper moves smoothly from one idea to the next. b. The paper uses comparison and contrast transition words to show relationships between ideas. c. The paper uses a variety of sentence structures and transitions.