Comparison and Contrast(Main Topic: Modes of Paragraph Development)

A Comparison or Contrast essay is an essay in which you either compare something or contrast something. A comparison essay is an essay in which you emphasize the similarities, and a contrast essay is an essay in which you emphasize the differences. We use comparison and contrast thinking when deciding which university to attend, which smartphone to buy, or whether to vacation at home or abroad.When comparing or contrasting something, writers have two classic organizational patterns from which to choose. One is called block arrangement of ideas; the other is called point-by-point or alternating arrangement of ideas. Suppose you are interested in showing the differences between vacationing in the mountains and vacationing at the beach. You will then write a contrast essay. One way to arrange your material is to use the block arrangement which is to write about vacationing in the mountains in one paragraph and vacationing at the beach in the next. If you mention a particular point in the mountains paragraph, you must mention the same point in the beach paragraph, and in the same order. The following outline shows this block organization. The first paragraph (the introduction) is followed by the mountains paragraph, then the beach paragraph, then the conclusion. The fully developed essay is just four paragraphs.

Block Organization in Four Paragraphs

I.Introduction: Get your reader's attention and state your purpose which is to discuss the differences between vacationing in the mountains or at the beach.

II.Vacationing in the Mountains, (A) the climate, (B) the types of activities, and (C) the location.

III.Vacation at the Beach, (A) the climate, (B) the types of activities, and (C) the location.

IV.Conclusion: Summarize your ideas and leave the reader with a good impression.

A second way to organize this material is to discuss a particular point about vacationing in the mountains and then immediately to discuss the same point about vacationing at the beach. This is called point-by-point or alternating arrangement. An outline of this organization follows.

Point-by-Point Organization in Five Paragraphs

I.Introduction: Get your reader's attention and state your purpose which is to discuss three differences between vacationing in the mountains or vacationing at the beach which are the climate, the types of activities, and the location.

II.The first difference between vacationing at the beach or in the mountains is the climate.

III.The second difference between vacationing at the beach or in the mountains is the type of activities.

IV.The third difference between vacationing at the beach or in the mountains is the location.

V.Conclusion: Summarize your ideas and leave the reader with a good impression.

Prepared by:Carmela Joy S. Dela CruzBSGE-I

Denotative and Connotative Meaning of Words(Main Topic: Developing Reading Skills)

DenotativeIf you look up the word "thin" in the thesaurus, you will be treated with a variety of synonyms to replace it. You will see that "thin" refers to a body type. It may mean "slender," "slim," "delicate," "emaciated," "fragile," "gaunt," "lean," "skinny," "small," or "wasted." All of these words are dictionary meanings of "thin"; so strictly speaking, you can interchange "thin" with any of these words in a given sentence. For example, if you say, "My sister is thin," you can change it into "My sister is slim," or "My sister is wasted." It would all mean the same thing, if you only consider the denotative meaning of the words.ConnotativeOnce you consider the connotations of the synonyms of the word "thin," you realize that most of the words cannot be used in the specified context of the sentence. Saying, "My sister is slim," is drastically different from, "My sister is wasted," although both words are synonyms of the word "thin." "Slim" evokes a positive body image, while "wasted" means that the person is undernourished, which is why she is "thin." You should be careful of the connotations of words since they can entirely give new meanings to words that you have otherwise thought of as synonyms.Based on the examples above, it is important to consider both the denotative and connotative meaning of words. As a writer, it is hard to achieve the connotative meaning of a word when you don't know its denotation in the first place. Familiarize yourself with both denotations and connotations of different words. These do not only come in handy when it comes to poetry, but in all kinds of writing as well.

Prepared by:Jennica Mae M. MaquintoBSFT-I

Paraphrasing and Summarizing(Main Topic: Reading Technics)

In contrast to quoting directly, by summarizing or paraphrasing an author's ideas you are able to present your interpretation of an author's ideas and to integrate them more fully into the structure of your writing.Paraphrasing is generally used when you wish to refer to sentences or phrases in the source text. It is particularly useful when you are dealing with facts and definitions. Paraphrasing involves rewriting a short section from the source text in different words whilst keeping the same meaning.Summarizing is generally used when you wish to refer to ideas contained in a long text. Summarizing enables you to reduce the author's ideas to key points in an outline of the discussion or argument by omitting unnecessary details and examples.Whether you summarise or paraphrase, you will still need to include a reference citing the source of the ideas you have referred to.A Process for Paraphrasing and Summarizing Many students find the following process useful for summarizing and paraphrasing information. Read the text carefully - you may need to read the text several times, and check the meaning of terms you do not understand in a dictionary. Identify and underline the key words and main ideas in the text, and write these ideas down. Consider these points as a whole and your purpose for using this information in relation to the structure of your assignment. You may be able to group the ideas under your own headings, and arrange them in a different sequence to the original text. Think about the attitude of the author, i.e. critical, supportive, certain, uncertain. Think about appropriate reporting verbs you could use to describe this attitude. Think of words or phrases which mean roughly the same as those in the original text. Remember, if the key words are specialized vocabulary for the subject, they do not need to be changed. (see Using synonyms below.) Using your notes from the above steps, draft your summary or paraphrase. When you have finished your draft reread the original text and compare it to your paraphrase or summary. You can then check that you have retained the meaning and attitude of the original text.

Prepared by:Jennica Mae M. MaquintoBSFT-I