ENGLISH I/II
MRS. DAVIS
COMPARISON/CONTRAST ESSAY
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A common assignment in all disciplines is to compare
and contrast two or more things to discover how
they are alike and/or how they are different. Only
similar items can be compared and/or contrasted.
The comparison/contrast must be supported by
examples.
There are two organizational patterns for this type
of writing assignment, but as with all assignments,
you should follow the directions as outlined by your
instructor.
Understand what comparison or
contrast requires you to do.
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Always choose two equal items—two cars,
two vacations, two sports stars—not two
unequal items, like a car and an octopus.
Next, decide if you want to compare or
contrast as your primary strategy. The
essay should be 80/20 in favor of one
strategy, not 50/50.
Your job is to interest the reader. Choose
points to discuss that are not
immediately obvious.
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COMPARISON= similarities
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CONTRAST= differences
Two
Ways to Write a Compare and Contrast
Essay
1.
2.
Block Method
Point –by- Point Method
POINT-BY POINT METHOD
I.
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Introduction
II. First point
A. Explanation of how this point relates to the first item
B. Explanation of how this point relates to the second item
III. Second point
A. Explanation of how this point relates to the first item
B. Explanation of how this point relates to the second item
IV. Third point
A. Explanation of how this point relates to the first item
B. Explanation of how this point relates to the second item
V. Conclusion
IN-CLASS ACTIVITY
Outline - Block Method
I. Introduction
III. TRUCK
a) Attention Getter or Hook a) Price
b) Background Information b) Mileage
c) Insurance
c) Thesis
II. CAR
a) Price
b) Mileage
c) Insurance
IV. Conclusion
a) Emphasize Major Ties
b) So What?
c) Evaluation
Outline - Point by Point
I. Introduction
a) Attention Getter or Hook
b) Background Information
c) Thesis
II. Price
a) CAR
b) TRUCK
III. Mileage
a) CAR
b) TRUCK
IV. Insurance
a) CAR
b) TRUCK
IV. Conclusion
a) Emphasize Major Ties
b) So What?
c) Evaluation
SAMPLE ESSAY BY POINT-BY-POINT METHOD
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"The benefits of pet ownership are real -- physically,
mentally and psychosocially," confirms Dr. Daniel Joffe, a
Calgary veterinarian who specializes in companion animals. Pets
are good for your health, apparently. A cuddly cat, a loving
dog: Some people are so attached to their pets that you'd think
they were part of the family. Well, as any pet owner will tell
you, they are! But unlike relationships with human family
members, which can sometimes be difficult and a source of
stress, owning a pet can significantly improve overall health. The
question is about what to keep as a pet? A dog or a cat? It is
quite sure that cats and dogs make excellent pets, but an
appropriate choice depends on pet management, cost, and
accommodations.
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The first difference between cats and dogs is management. Cats don’t
have to be watched during the day. And it is easier to get care if the owner
travels. In contrast, dogs shouldn’t be left alone. They may get in trouble if left
by themselves. And it is more difficult to find a good dog resort or someone to
look after the dog if the owner travels.
The second difference is cost. Cats are less expensive to own and take
care of. Food and health care costs are usually fairly low. Also, cats are less
likely to damage property or hurt themselves. On the other hand, dogs often
chew on furniture, damage gates or fences and sometimes they get into fights
and hurt themselves.
The final difference is accommodations. Cats don’t take up much space.
They don’t need a large area to run around. And they can take care of
themselves most of the time. They don’t cause trouble to their owners or other
people. Dogs, however, often need a yard or fence. And because they like to
bark and run around, they need more safety and protective measures.
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All in all, when considering adopting a pet, you must
consider the management, cost and accommodations that
the pet would require. Owners who don’t think about these
aspects will often not care for their pet in a safe manner.
SAMPLE ESSAY BY BLOCK METHOD
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Teaching is one profession everyone is qualified
to do in a place like Nigeria. Proper recruitment is
usually not done in most schools. As a result, most
people who end up being teachers rather teach for the
salary and not for the purpose of training the students.
Different teachers or instructors have different
approaches to teaching. Some are favorable for the
students while others are not. The end results usually tell
which instructor is good or not. I have known two
noticable instructors up till now and a comparison
between these two instructors reveals some surprising
differences in their characters, philosophies and
approaches to teaching.
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Dr McDonald, our biology instructor is one of these two
instructors. He made biology hell for us. I enrolled in this course
because it was made compulsory for everyone. Left for everyone, I
would not have thought of enrolling. Having him as a favorite
teacher was the most impossible thing any fresher could think of. Mr.
McDonald was strict, straight forward and not nice at all. He was a
kind of person who appreciated his profession and would give
everything he can to see that it works out. Mr. McDonald had a very
bad philosophy about his job. To him, teaching was all about coming
into a class and talking till the class ends, not minding if anyone was
understanding or not. Like he always said, “there are slow brains
and there are fast ones, so let the fast ones follow”. He derived joy
from failing his students. No one ever understood him, talk less of his
teachings. Mr. McDonald discriminated students a lot. He preferred
some students, especially girls, to others. He was very rude and
harsh to all others. He never listened to their complaint. He spent no
extra hours attending to any student other than class hours.
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Mr. Oley was the exact opposite of Mr. McDonald. He
was cheerful, outgoing and very nice. He had a different
philosophy of teaching entirely. He believed he would be
cheating if he collects his salary at the end of the month
without getting his students to understand his lectures. His
favorite saying was “I believe I’m handling the tomorrow’s
leaders so I have to handle them well.” He always gave the
grades everyone deserved and took it up as a habit to correct
all the errors. He conducted extra lectures outside class
periods for students who were left behind in class. Effective
teaching involves acquiring relevant knowledge about your
students and using that knowledge during classroom teachings.
Certain methods are meant to be adopted to support
learning. Class participation, memorization, demonstration and
recitation are the teaching methods usually employed for
effective teaching and only Mr. Oley stuck to these favorable
teaching methods. This was the reason why his students were
the most successful in biology.
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All in all, if only every teacher could be like Mr.
Oley, the teaching and learning world would better
place. There would be no cases of failure if proper
teaching methods are used. Also, mutual
understanding between the teacher and the student
is required to achieve good results. If the teacher
understands the students well, he would be aware
of the teaching method to employ and not just any
teaching method. It was very obvious that Mr. Oley
was a better instructor than Mr. McDonald in
teaching.
SAMPLE ESSAY-2 BY BLOCK METHOD
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Yesterday, I was looking in my high school
photo album and came across some pictures of my
ex-boyfriends, Shaun and Daniel. Looking at the
pictures of them, reminded me of how they were
both all very special people in my life, and how I
really enjoyed the times that I spent with all of
them. However, I realized that, although my exboyfriends were alike in bringing happiness in my
life, the things that they did and the qualities that
they displayed awere not the same.
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First, I dated Shaun. He seemed to be the perfect gentleman.
Shaun was sweet and charming, and he would always take me to
fancy restaurants and buy me whatever I wanted. He was very
smart, and he always did well in school. His intelligence was what
drew me closer to him. But there was one thing that was wrong with
Shaun. He wasn't on the same page as I was mentally. He barely
talked, and we could never keep a good conversation going for a
long time. Sometimes, I wondered why I still liked him because he
was a little boring at times. He was also a nerd. He always hung out
with his nerd friends, and they never did anything fun and
interesting except play video games. Yet I must say that I enjoyed
the restaurants and the gifts. Our relationship only lasted for two
months. I was surprised that it lasted that long. The relationship
ended because he was just too boring for me, and I couldn't take any
more of it. So I told him that we needed to go our separate ways and
see other people. The idea didn't seem to bother him because he told
me that he was sort of thinking the same thing.
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Next, I dated Daniel. Daniel was the rebel in high school. He always
skipped school, he never behaved well in class, and all of the students were
intimidated by him. He was an all around bad guy, but I happened to be
attracted to bad boys. When we met, I helped him get out of a suspension
because he was caught skipping school. I was out running errands and I saw
him being lectured by our principal. I lied and told the principal that I was
the reason he wasn't in class because I was tutoring him. From then on we
became good friends. We dated for six months, and we had a really good
relationship. I even helped him with his work and encouraged him to go to
all of his classes. Even though he seemed rough and tough on the outside, on
the inside he was very kind and he had a great personality. People at school
thought that I was crazy to be dating him, but they didn't see the same
person that I saw. Unfortunately, our relationship had to come to an end.
Daniel had gotten into a situation with some people that he knew and he
ended up getting arrested. I was devastated and I knew that we would no
longer be together because what he did caused him to remain in jail for a
very long time.
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Looking into my high school photo album reminded
me how many good relationships I had been through. I
went from dating a nerd, to dating a jock, and then a
rebel. They may have differed in personality and style,
they were all very important people in my life. Out of
the two, the one that I felt most connected with was
Daniel. The fact that he didn't have money and he
wasn't a intelligent, or that he wasn't extremely popular
and good in sports didn't matter to me. What mattered
was that we had a lot in common and we were
compatible. However, Shaun was important as well.
They were both very special to me. Every time I look
into my high school album I will always have a
remembrance of my high school flings.