ACADEMIC WRITING HINT.

CONTRAST – COMPARISON

PARAGRAPH

Writers.ph

BASICS

[…Comparison and contrast are broad terms which indicateyou are to judge the items againsta set of principles…]

One of the best ways to learn how to use comparisonand contrast is to learn what not to do.

First, make sure your components are comparable.

Comparing the former President of the United States and your former Headmaster would be useless.

Comparing Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon would be moreproductive.

In both comparison and contrast, there must be some relation, some common ground between the two elements.

DO NOT

USEFUL

PHRASES

Comparison (similarities)

Both A and B…Just as A..., so too B...Like A, B …A is as .....as B...B also has...A...; similarly, B...Neither A nor B has...A...; likewise, B...

Contrast (differences)

Unlike A, B...

A is not as ... as B...

In contrast, B... A has...; however,

B has

Although A..., B...

A is ..., but B is ...

A is ..., whereas B is ...

A is ...; on the other hand, B is...

WRITING A COMPARISON/

CONTRAST PARAGRAPH

Step 1: Choose a topic

Step 2: Brainstorm for similarities and differences

Step 3: Figure out what criteria you want to focuson in comparing the items

Step 4: In block style, you consider all of A, thenall of B. In point-by-point, you alternate points

about A with comparable points about B.

Step 5: Write the topic and supporting sentencestogether in a paragraph form

Step 6: Finish the paragraph with a summarizing sentence.

You present your information on one of the subjects you are comparing and then, introducedby an appropriate transition word or phrase (such assimilarly or on the other hand), you present thecorresponding information for the second componentof the comparison.

CONSECUTIVE METHOD

For example, if you were comparing SUV's (Sports Utility Vehicles) and compact cars using as criteria gas mileage, handling, and passenger space, your consecutively developed comparison paragraph might look like this:

CONSECUTIVE METHOD

EXAMPLE

• A

– 1

– 2

– 3

• B

– 3

– 2

– 1

compact

gas mileage,

handling,

passenger space;

station wagon

passenger space,

handling,

gas mileage.

The other means of organizing a comparison, the simultaneous method, uses a point by point comparison and is, perhaps, more suited to a full length theme although an effective paragraph can be written in this manner.

THE SIMULTANEOUS METHOD

(POINT-BY-POINT):

SIMULTANEOUS METHOD

EXAMPLE

– gas mileage,

• compact/SUV;

– handling,

• compact/SUV;

– passenger space,

• compact/SUV.

Notice that each point of comparison appears with each componentbeing compared simultaneously:

A/B 1

A/B 2

[A]/B 3.

Sometimes, in organizing a comparison you may want to alter

your theme structure by saving your most striking comparison orcontrast until last so that your points are arranged in ascendingorder of importance or climatic order.

In the sample theme on cars, the climactic order would be interior space, then handling, then mileage, as cost of operation is probably the main factor to the average family. This arrangement allows you to conclude your theme in the last body paragraph—with appropriate concluding comments—andforego a concluding paragraph altogether.

SUMMARY