Here’s an example, this time using three pizza places:Īs you generate points of comparison, consider the purpose and content of the assignment and the focus of the class. You should then have a box per item for each criterion you can fill the boxes in and then survey what you’ve discovered. Across the top, list the names of the items. Along the left side of the page, list each of the criteria. To make a chart, figure out what criteria you want to focus on in comparing the items. Here’s a very simple example, using two pizza places: Assign each one of the areas that doesn’t overlap in those areas, you can list the traits that make the things different. In the central area where they overlap, list the traits the two items have in common. To make a Venn diagram, simply draw some overlapping circles, one circle for each item you’re considering. Making a Venn diagram or a chart can help you quickly and efficiently compare and contrast two or more things or ideas. For example, if you wanted to argue that Frye’s account of oppression is better than both de Beauvoir’s and Bartky’s, comparing and contrasting the main arguments of those three authors might help you construct your evaluation-even though the topic may not have asked for comparison/contrast and the lists of similarities and differences you generate may not appear anywhere in the final draft of your paper. Sometimes you may want to use comparison/contrast techniques in your own pre-writing work to get ideas that you can later use for an argument, even if comparison/contrast isn’t an official requirement for the paper you’re writing. Using comparison/contrast for all kinds of writing projects You may want to check out our handout on understanding assignments for additional tips. What commonalities are there in these accounts? What factors do you think are responsible for their differences? In the texts we’ve studied, soldiers who served in different wars offer differing accounts of their experiences and feelings both during and after the fighting.What does each imply about women’s collusion in their own oppression? Which is more accurate? Compare Frye’s and Bartky’s accounts of oppression.How do the different authors we have studied so far define and describe oppression?.Choose a particular idea or theme, such as romantic love, death, or nature, and consider how it is treated in two Romantic poems.Consider these examples, noticing the language that is used to ask for the comparison/contrast and whether the comparison/contrast is only one part of a larger assignment: And in some cases, comparison/contrast is only part of the essay-you begin by comparing and/or contrasting two or more things and then use what you’ve learned to construct an argument or evaluation. Notice that some topics ask only for comparison, others only for contrast, and others for both.īut it’s not always so easy to tell whether an assignment is asking you to include comparison/contrast. Contrast Wordsworth and Coleridge what are the major differences in their poetry?.Compare WWI to WWII, identifying similarities in the causes, development, and outcomes of the wars.Compare and contrast Frye’s and Bartky’s accounts of oppression.Some assignments use words-like compare, contrast, similarities, and differences-that make it easy for you to see that they are asking you to compare and/or contrast. Recognizing comparison/contrast in assignments By assigning such essays, your instructors are encouraging you to make connections between texts or ideas, engage in critical thinking, and go beyond mere description or summary to generate interesting analysis: when you reflect on similarities and differences, you gain a deeper understanding of the items you are comparing, their relationship to each other, and what is most important about them. One of the most common is the comparison/contrast essay, in which you focus on the ways in which certain things or ideas-usually two of them-are similar to (this is the comparison) and/or different from (this is the contrast) one another. In your career as a student, you’ll encounter many different kinds of writing assignments, each with its own requirements. It will also explain how you can (and why you should) develop a thesis that goes beyond “Thing A and Thing B are similar in many ways but different in others.” Introduction This handout will help you first to determine whether a particular assignment is asking for comparison/contrast and then to generate a list of similarities and differences, decide which similarities and differences to focus on, and organize your paper so that it will be clear and effective. Comparing and Contrasting What this handout is about
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