Download Compare and Contrast

Compare and Contrast
Setting Things Side by Side
AP English Language and Composition
Tanner Kortman
Adapted from the Bedford Reader
What is the Purpose of Compare and
Contrast
 To show why one thing is preferred to another, one course
of action to another, one idea to another
 A careful detailed comparison and contrast of choices may
be extremely convincing in an argument
 In order to demonstrate that you know both of your subjects
thoroughly, you are often asked to compare their similarities
and differences.
 Because no two subjects, people, ideas are in every respect
exactly the same or entirely dissimilar, the two methods, to
compare and contrast, are usually inseparable.
And in the “Real World”?
 This type of writing is helpful in nearly all subject
areas and will be utilized within nearly every major
one might choose:
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Political Science: ‘Compare and contrast the
presidencies of John F. Kennedy and Abraham
Lincoln.’
Business: ‘Compare and contrast the ‘1984’ Apple
Super Bowl advertisement with Apple’s current
marketing strategies to decide which is more
successful.’
And In the “Real World”?
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Marine Science: ‘Compare and contrast the mating
practices of the Southern Right Whale and the Orca.’
Literature: ‘Compare and contrast two of the Holy
Sonnets of John Donne.’
Music: ‘Compare and contrast Beethoven’s Sonatina
in F with Sonatina in G.’
Biology: ‘Compare and contrast the properties of
chlorophyll with those of borophyll.’
The Purpose of Compare and Contrast
 The purpose of showing each of two subjects
distinctly by considering both, side by side.
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This type of writing doesn’t necessarily find one of the
subjects better than the other.
 The purpose of choosing between two things.
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This type of writing requires that you consider the
positive features and the negative, and to choose the
subject whose positive features clearly predominate.
The Process of Compare and Contrast
 Choose subjects that display a clear basis for comparison. In other
words, they should have something significant in common.
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This usually works best with two of a kind: two ways of gardening, two
mediocre rock bands (like Creed and Nickleback), two mystery writers,
two schools of political thought.
 It can sometimes be effective to find similarities between evidently
unlike subjects, like a city and a country town.
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This brings about ANALOGY, which always equates two very unlike
things, and then explains one in terms of the other. i.e. explaining how
the human eye works by comparing it to a camera.
In ANY Comparison of unlike things, you have to have a VALID
reason to bring the two things together. i.e. It is acceptable to compare
Generals Grant and Lee; however, it would be difficult to make a
comparison between Grant and Mick Jagger.
The Process of Compare and Contrast
 Of course identifying the shared and dissimilar
features of your subjects is important; however, it
won’t be manageable or interesting until you limit it.
 Therefore, it is wise to select a single basis for
comparison and identify it in your thesis.

i.e. Don’t compare Russia and the United States.
Instead, compare childcare services available in Russia
and the United States. By limiting your topic, you have
developed a single basis of comparison.
The Process of Compare and Contrast
 The basis for comparison will eventually underpin
the THESIS of your essay– a claim you have to
make about the similarities and dissimilarities of two
things or about one thing’s superiority over another.
 Your thesis will clearly identify your subjects and
also act as a purpose of the comparison– whether it
is to evaluate or to explain.
Organization of the Compare and
Contrast
 Subject by subject: Set forth all of the information that you have on Subject A,
then do the same for Subject B. Then, sum up their similarities and differences.
In your conclusion, state what you think you have shown.
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Outline for Jed v. Jake
1. Jed
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Training
Choice of material
Technical dexterity
Playing style
2. Jake
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Training
Choice of material
Technical dexterity
Playing style
CONCLUSION
Organization of Compare on Contrast
 Point by point: Usually more workable in a long paper than the first method,
this scheme allows you to compare and contrast as you go. You consider one
point at a time, taking up your two subjects alternately. In this way, you will
continually bring the subjects together, possibly in every paragraph.
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Outline for Jed v. Jake
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Training
 Jed: studied under Earl Scruggs
 Jake: studied under Bela Fleck
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Choice of Material
 Jed: bluegrass
 Jake: jazz-oriented
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Technical Dexterity
 Jed: highly skilled
 Jake: highly skilled
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Playing Style
 Jed: rapid-fire
 Jake: impressionistic
Organization of Compare and Contrast
 For either of the two methods, subject by subject or
point by point, your conclusion might be: Although
similar in skill, the two differ greatly in aims and
personality. Jed is better suited to the Grand Ol’
Opry and Jake to a concert hall.
 No matter how you group your points, they have
to balance. You cannot discuss something about
one subject and not discuss it about the other. If
you have nothing to say about it for both, you might
as well omit it.
Being Flexible With Your Outline
 As you write, an outline will help you see the shape of your paper
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and keep your procedure in mind
But don’t be too simple
Few essays are more boring to read then a long, mechanical
compare and contrast essay
Don’t let it be a tennis match: now Jed, now Jake, now Jed, now
Jake, now Jed again, now Jake again
It is true that you need to mention the same features of both
subjects, but there is no law as how you must mention them
You don’t need to use the same number of words on each subject
nor must it be done in the exact order
Use your outline as a guide but don’t allow it dominate you
Focusing on Paragraph Coherence
 With several points of comparison and alternating
subjects, a comparison will be easy for your readers
to follow only if you frequently clarify what subjects
and what points you are discussing.
 Two techniques, transitions and repetition or
restatement, can guide your readers through this
essay
Focusing on Paragraph Coherence
 TRANSITIONS: act as signposts to tell readers
where you are, and they, are headed.
 Some transitions indicate that you are shifting
between subjects, either finding resemblance
between them (also, like, likewise, similarly) or finding
differences (but, however, in contrast, instead, unlike,
whereas, yet)
 Other transitions indicate you are moving on to a
new point (in addition, also, furthermore, moreover)
Focusing On Coherence
 TRANSITIONS:
Traditional public schools depend for financing, of course, on
tax receipts and on other public money like bonds, and as a
result they generally open enrollment to all students without
regard to background, skills, or special needs. Magnet schools
are similarly funded by public money. But they often require
prospective students to pass a test or other hurdle for
admission. In addition, whereas traditional public schools
usually offer a general curriculum, magnet schools often focus
on a specialized program emphasizing an area of knowledge or
competence, such as science and technology or performing
arts.
Focusing On Paragraph Coherence
 REPETITION or RESTATEMENT: Use these to help
clarify and link sentences
Traditional public schools depend for financing, of
course, on tax receipts and on other public money like
bonds, and as a result they generally open enrollment to all
students without regard to background, skills, or special
needs. Magnet schools are similarly funded by public
money. But they often require prospective students to
pass a test or other hurdle for admission. In addition,
whereas traditional public schools usually offer a general
curriculum, magnet schools often focus on a specialized
program emphasizing an area of knowledge or competence,
such as science and technology or performing arts.
Checklist for Revising a Comparison
and Contrast
 PURPOSE: What is the aim of your comparison: to explain two subjects
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or to evaluate them? Will the purpose be clear to readers from the start?
SUBJECTS: Are the subjects enough alike, sharing enough features, to
make comparison worthwhile?
THESIS: Does your thesis establish a limited basis for comparison so
that you have room and time to cover all the relevant similarities and
differences?
ORGANIZATION: Does your arrangement of material, whether
subject by subject or point by point, do justice to your subjects and help
readers follow the comparison?
BALANCE AND FLEXIBILITY: Have you covered the same
features of both subjects? At the same time, have you avoided a rigid
back-and-forth movement that could bore or exhaust a reader?
COHERENCE: Have you used transitions and repetition or
restatement to clarify which subjects and which points you are
discussing?
Kortman’s Advice
 AVOID CLICHES. All of them. They are as old as the hills.
 BE ORIGINAL. Don’t choose to compare things that have
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undoubtedly been done before or will be chosen by everyone else.
REMEMBER THAT I WILL BE READING THIS. I am your
audience.
PICK SOMETHING YOU KNOW. Don’t choose subjects that do
not have any significant meaning to you. Own it.
DON’T BE AFRAID TO TAKE CHANCES. This is the place to try
something new. Do it here and NOT on the AP Exam.
DON’T TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT: It would be sooooo very easy
to do subject by subject outline; however, take a chance and try the point
by point.
HAVE FUN. Writing CAN, I promise you, be an enjoyable process;
therefore, allow it to be.
David Sedaris’ “Six to Eight Black
Men”
 Listen to David Sedaris’ “Six to Eight Black Men”
from Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
 Try and identify the type of compare and contrast
Sedaris is using. Is it subject by subject or point by
point?
 Is he assigning value to the different holiday
traditions or is he simply stating what is?
 Why is this piece “engaging?”