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StrengthenYourWriting5.ComparisonandContrast•Acomparisonistheprocessofshowinghowthingsarealike;•Acontrastistheprocessofshowingdifferences.Howto?•Wehave,let'ssay,fivepointsofdifferencebetweenthetwothingsthatwewanttocontrast.Shallwegofromsidetoside,orshouldwedwellononesidebeforegoingovertotheotherside,essentiallysplittingouressayinhalf?•Itispossibletomixthesetwoapproaches,butourapproachwilldeterminetheoverallstructure,pacing,andeffectoftheessay.•Thereshouldbeagoodreasontomakethecomparison.Whyshouldwecomparethismovietothenovelitisbasedon?Whyshouldwecomparethesetwoshortstories,onebyamodernsouthernAmericanCatholicwomanandtheotherbyanineteenth-centuryFrench-Canadianman?Willthecomparisonactuallyhelpanyone'sunderstandingofeitherone?Whenwe'vefinishedgoingthroughthevariousdifferencesandsimilarities,isthereaderleftwiththatfeeling,orhaveweactuallyaccomplishedsomethingimportant?Haveweprovidedauniqueinsightintothenatureofthesetwothingsthatthereaderwouldneverhavediscoveredotherwise?•Thebusinessofacomparisonandcontrastessayisfrequently(butnotalways)todemonstrateapreferenceforonethingoveranother.•Thetrickistoallowthepreferencetogrowoutofthecomparisonwithoutactuallystatingtheobvious.Letthereaderfigureoutthepreferencefromthelanguageweuseinthecontrast;letthelanguagedoitswork.•Comparisonandcontrastarewaysoflookingatobjectsandthinkingabouthowtheyarealikeanddifferent.•Forinstance,alloftheseitemsarealikebecausetheyarekindsoffood,buttherearemanywaysthattheyaredifferent.Theybelongtodifferentfoodgroups.Somemustbecookedbeforeeating,andsomecanbeeatenraw.•Whenyouwritecomparisonandcontrast,youwillpayattentiontothesekindsofdetails.•Practice:•Myhometown---OldandNewBefore1980Nowpopulationstreetsdirty,narrow,twisting,bikessquares,broad,parallel,bridges,carshousingold,small,crowdedTall,spaciousindustriespaper-making,beer-making,printing,furniturecommence…Purpose•Therearetwomainreasonsthatpeopleusecomparisonandcontrast:•1.ToExplain--Youmightcompareandcontrastkindsoffood,forinstance,tohelpsomeoneunderstandwhichfoodneedtoberefrigeratedandwhichcanbestoredinacabinetorinabowlonthecounter.•2.ToEvaluate--Youmightcompareandcontrastkindsoffoodtoshowwhyonekindoffoodorbrandoffoodisbetterthananother.Forexample,applesareabettersnackthanbutter.Choosingitems•Whenyouchooseitemstocompareandcontrast,makesurethatyouchooseitemsthathavesimilarities.•Youhavetochoosethingsthatwillmakesenseforcomparisonandcontrast.Forinstance,itwouldn'tmakesensetocompareatruckwithabirdhouse.•Besuretocomparethingsthatbelongtogether.Comparetrucksandcars.Comparison•Whenyoucompareitems,youlookfortheirsimilarities--thethingsthatmakethemthesame.•Forexample:•Applesandorangesarebothfruit.•They'rebothfoods.•Botharemadeintojuice.•Bothgrowontrees.Contrast•Whenyoucontrastitems,youlookattheirdifferences.•Forexample:•Applesarered.Orangesareorange.•Thefruitshavedifferenttextures.•Orangesneedawarmerplacetogrow.Applescangrowincoolerplaces.•Youprobablyusecomparisonallthetime.Maybeyouwanttobuysomecandy,soyougotothestoreandlookatallofthecandythatisavailable.•Youcan'tbuyallthecandy,soyouhavetonarrowdownyourchoices.•Youcompareandcontrastthedifferentkindsofcandysothatyoucanmakeyourdecision.•Youalsolookatthethingsthatmakethecandydifferent.•Someofthecandyischocolate.Someispongecandy.•Somepiecesofthecandyhaveafilling,likecookies.Somedonot.•Someofthecandycanbebrokenintosmallerpieceswhiletheothersarehardertodivideifyouwanttoshare.•Nowit'stimetomakeyourdecision.•Ifyou'reinthemoodforchocolate,youwouldn'tchoosethejellybeansorpeppermintcandy.•Ifyouwanttosharethecandy,oneofthepiecesthatcanbebrokenintosmallerpieceswouldbebetter.•Soyoucoulddecideontheplainchocolatecandy,becauseitwasclosesttowhatyouwanted.•Comparisonandcontrastareusedinyourwritingtoorganizeanindividualparagraphaswellastoorganizeentirepapers.•Forinstance,youmightwriteapaperthatcomparesamovieandabookaboutthesametopic.Inyourpaperyoucancompareandcontrastthemovieversionwiththebookversion.Balanceideas•Asyoubegintoorganizeyourwriting,it'simportanttomakesurethatyoubalancetheinformationabouttheitemsthatyou'recomparingandcontrasting.•Youneedtobesurethatyougivethemequaltimeandspaceinwhatyouwrite.•Ifyoucovercharacters,settings,andhistoricalaccuracyforthebook,forinstance,youneedtobesurethatyoucoverthesameelementsforthemovie.Threestrategies•Therearethreestrategiestoorganizecomparisonandcontrastpapers:•1.Whole-to-Whole,orBlocktoBlock•2.Similarities-to-Differences•3.Point-by-PointBook,MovieA---BAB,AB,AB,ABWhole-to-WholeorBlockStrategy•Inthisstructure,yousayeverythingaboutoneitem,theneverythingabouttheother.•Forinstance,sayeverythingaboutthecharacters,settings,andplotsforthebooktheneverythingaboutthecharacters,settings,andplotsforthemovie.•Whole-to-Wholecomparisonandcontrastusesaseparatesectionorparagraphforeachitemyou'rediscussing.•Thepointsineachofthesectionsshouldbethesameandtheyshouldbeexplainedinthesameorder(forinstance,youmightdiscusscharacters,settings,andplotsforboth,andinthatorderforboth).Similarities-to-DifferencesStrategy•Inthisstructure,youexplainallth