C h a p t e r 8
Comparison and Contrast
W
riting developed by the comparison-and-contrast method shows similarities in
otherwise unlike subjects and differences in otherwise similar subjects. Usu-
ally, a writer does not analyze similarities in subjects already recognized as similar or
differences in subjects recognized as different.
Some assignments may require you to compare or contrast certain ideas: Compare
the attitudes of the North and the South immediately prior to the Civil War. Compare
the poetry of Walt Whitman with that of Carl Sandburg. Contrast two methods of
accounting and indicate which is the better method for specific purposes.
Sometimes an essay test will include questions that require a comparison-and-contrast
answer: Contrast the economic principles of socialism with that of capitalism. Com-
pare and contrast two Shakespearean sonnets that describe or seem to refer to the
Dark Lady. [See also Chapter 24, Essay-Test Question Responses.]
The comparison-and-contrast method of development almost always incorporates
other methods of development as well, including analogy, definition, description,
cause and effect, narration, or process analysis. [See entries for each method elsewhere
in Part II.]
CHARACTERISTICS
A paper developed by means of comparison or contrast usually includes the follow-
ing characteristics
-^ a subject suitable for comparison or contrast so that a comparison shows
similarities of generally unlike subjects and a contrast shows differences of
generally similar subjects,
-^ a topic or thesis sentence that establishes the general comparison or contrast
[see topic sentence and thesis sentence in the Glossary; see Writing a Paragraph
and Writing a Multi-Paragraph Paper in Chapter 2 for discussion and examples],
-^ a clearly developed whole-by-whole, part-by-part, or similarities-differences
organization,
-^ details that clarify the similarities or differences,
-^ precise transitions that help the reader single out the differences or similarities
[see transitions in the Glossary],