Comparison and Contrast Writing

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Comparison and Contrast Writing
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What is comparison and contrast?

• Comparison shows how two or more things are
  similar
• Contrast shows how two or more things are
  different
• In most writing situations, the two related
  processes are used together
• An analogy explains one thing by comparing it to
  a second, more familiar, thing.

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Establishing a basis for comparison

• The two things to be compared must have enough in
  common to justify the comparison.
• In making comparisons, you should move beyond the
  obvious
• When two things are very similar, it is the
  contrasts that may be worth writing about.

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Searching points for discussion

• Determine your emphasis on similarities,
  differences, or both.
• Determine the major focus of your paper.
• Make sure you treat the same or similar elements
  for each subject you will discuss

Novel A Novel B
Major characters Major characters
Minor characters Minor characters
themes themes
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Novel A Novel B
Major Characters Plot
Minor Characters Authors Life
Themes symbolism

• Do not discuss entirely different elements for
  each subject.

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Point-Example-Explain
Sonnys Blues Compare/Contrast the narrator and
Sonny

• This is a great time for Point-Example-Explain!

Example/ Support Point 1 Example/ Support Point 2
Sonny is a dreamer, Narrator is a realist (contrast) Wants to be a jazz musician Pg. 75 Wants Sonny to find a real job Pg. 80
Neither brother can deal with reality, but they do it in different ways (compare AND contrast) Sonny tries to escape reality using drugs Pg. 78 Narrator ignores reality and is cold Pg. 74
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Formulating a Thesis Statement

• Identify not only the subjects to be compared and
  contrasted in your essay, but the point you will
  make about them.
• Also indicate whether you will focus on
  similarities or differences, or balance the two.
• Although Melvilles Moby-Dick and Londons The
  Sea Wolf are both about the sea, the minor
  characters, major characters, and themes of
  Moby-Dick establish its greater complexity.
• Although both of my communities consist of
  friends, my school community has the greatest
  impact on my life.

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• While Morrisons novel underscores the theme of
  self-loathing by the main characters, Faulkner's
  story elucidates the theme of patriarchal
  supremacy. (contrast)
•  On Going Home and Sonnys Blues are about
  families, and the characters in both stories run
  away and come back home at the same time.
• Although On Going Home and Sonnys Blues are both
  about families, On Going Home is about a family
  who cannot let go whereas Sonnys Blues
  illustrates a family running from each other.

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• One way to start a compare and contrast thesis is
  by using words like whereas, while, even though,
  and although to suggest a contrasting element
  will follow.

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Point by Point Comparison

• Good for longer, more complex papers
• Make a point about one subject, and then follow
  it with a comparable point about the other
  subject.
• Alternating pattern
• Be careful not to fall into a monotonous, back
  and forth movement between points. To avoid this
  problem, vary sentence structure as you move from
  point to point.

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• A good idea to do is
• Para 1 Comparison Para 1 Comparison
• Para 2 Contrast Para 2 Comparison
• Para 3 Contrast Para 3 Contrast
• Or
• Para 1 Compare and Contrast
• Para 2 Compare and Contrast
• Para 3 Compare and Contrast

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• Method Outline I. Introduction A. Briefly
  introduce the works and significance of subject
  matter B. Thesis statement II. First
  comparative/contrast point A. Relation of point
  to 1st work B. Relation of point to 2nd work
  III. Second comparative/contrast point (same)
  IV. Third comparative/contrast point (same)
  V. Conclusion A. Restate thesis B. Summarize
  how your proved your argument

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• Thesis Even though both James Baldwin and
  Sherman Alexie create main characters with
  addictions, Sonny overcomes his addiction through
  the help of his brother while Victors dad just
  runs away.
• Topic sentence Both Sonnys Blues and My Father
  are about addiction.
• Para Each following sentence are about the
  similarities the stories share about addiction.
• Topic sentence Although both stories deal with
  addiction, Sonny is addicted to heroine while
  Victors dad is addicted to alcohol.
• Para Each sentence will discuss the differences
  between the addictions and how the characters
  deal with it.

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• Topic sent Compared to Sonnys Blues, My Father
  deals with a character who is obsessed with
  someone elses music instead of making his own.
• Topic sent Like Sonnys Blues, My Father deals
  with a character who is trying to escape the
  disappointments and harsh realities of life.
• Topic sent Despite their differing racial
  backgrounds, both protagonists share similar
  battles and hardships.

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EXAMPLE PARAGRAPH 1

• Both Sonnet  138 and Sonnet 43 describe the
  speakers love for their significant other. In
  Sonnet 138, Shakespeare calls the woman my
  love while in Sonnet 43, Browning calls her
  husband love of my life. EXPLAIN 1-3 SENTENCES.
  However, Shakespeare does not trust his woman,
  evident when he says, I know she lies.
  Browning, on the other hand, trusts her husband
  with the depth, breadth, and width of her
  soul. EXPLAIN 1-3 SENTENCES.

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Paragraph Sample pre-writing

•  On Going Home and Sonnys Blues are about
  families, and the characters in both stories run
  away and come back home at the same time.
• Types of families both Sonny and Joan Didion
  have strained, yet close, relationships with
  their families.
• Sonny/narrator brothers, they were estranged
  for years (Sonny in jail/fight), they both suffer
  loss (daughter/parents), they come together at
  the end.
• Joan Didion family (parents/brother/husband/daug
  hter), Didion lives away from her family b/c of
  marriage (estranged?), she cries when she hangs
  up the phone (shes missing them/really close)
• ESTRANGED
• Sonny                                            
             didion
•                Jail/fights                
                                 
  marriage/job/distance
• Both Sonny and Didion miss their families. Sonny
  wrote his brother first b/c INSERT MY ANALYSIS.
  Didion returns home for her daughters b-day b/c
  INSERT ANALYSIS.

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Example Paragraph 2

• Both Joan Didion and Sonny run away from their
  homes. While Didion left home because of her job
  and her marriage, Sonny leaves home because of
  drugs. Didion states, Marriage is the classic
  betrayal (73). She feels that she is at odds
  with her family and her husband because they do
  not agree. Didion abandons her family in CVC by
  moving to LA and marrying an outsider. Although
  Sonny abandons his family like Didion, he does it
  in a very different way. He becomes addicted to
  drugs and tells the narrator to pretend that he
  is dead (77). Sonny pushes his entire family
  away because he cared more about the drugs than
  his brother. The specific situations Didion and
  Sonny are in with their family one, a marriage
  and one, an addiction causes them to turn from
  the people who cared about them and separated
  them. THEY ARE BOTH SAD.