World History, Grades 9-12

SKILLBUILDERHANDBOOKR7

1.6 Comparing and Contrasting

Historians compare and contrast events, personalities, ideas, behaviors, beliefs, and

institutions in order to understand them thoroughly. COMPARINGinvolves finding

both similarities and differences between two or more things. CONTRASTINGmeans

examining only the differences between them.

Understanding the Skill

STRATEGY: LOOK FOR SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES. The following passage

describes life in the ancient Greek city-states of Sparta and Athens. The Venn diagram

below shows some of the similarities and differences between the two city-states.

STRATEGY: MAKE A VENN DIAGRAM.

Applying the Skill

MAKE YOUR OWN VENN DIAGRAM. Turn to Chapter 20, pages 564–565, and read

the section called “Native Americans Respond.” Make a Venn diagram comparing and

contrasting Dutch and English colonists’ relations with Native Americans.

Section 1:Reading Critically

Compare: Look for features

that two subjects have in

common. Here you learn that

both Athens and Sparta started

out as farming communities.

Compare: Look for clue

words indicating that two

things are alike. Clue words

include all, both, like, as,

likewise, and similarly.

Contrast: Look for clue

words that show how two

things differ. Clue words

include unlike, by contrast,

however, except, different,

and on the other hand.

Contrast: Look for ways in which two things are different.

Here you learn that Athens and Sparta had different values.

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Compare and Contrast:

Summarize similarities and

differences in a Venn diagram.

In the overlapping area, list

characteristics shared by both

subjects. Then, in one oval list the

characteristics of one subject not

shared by the other. In the other

oval, list unshared characteristics

of the second subject.

Sparta and Athens

The Greek city-states developed separately but shared certain characteristics, including language

and religion. Economically, all began as farming economies, and all except Sparta eventually moved to

trade. Politically, all city-states, except for Sparta, evolved into early forms of democracies.

The leader in the movement to democracy was Athens. After a series of reforms, every Athenian

citizen was considered equal before the law. However, as in the other Greek city-states, only about

one fifth of the population were citizens. Slaves did much of the work, so Athenian citizens were free

to create works of art, architecture, and literature, including drama.

By contrast, Sparta lived in constant fear of revolts by helots, people who were held in slave-like

conditions to work the land. The city was set up as a military dictatorship, and Spartan men dedicated

their lives to the military. In Sparta, duty, strength, and discipline were valued over beauty, individu-

ality, and creativity. As a result, Spartans created little art, architecture, or literature.

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Athens Only

Economy: moved from

farming to trade

Government:

democracy

Values: beauty,

individuality,

creativity

Sparta Only

Economy: remained

farming community

Government: military

dictatorship

Values: duty,

strength,

discipline

Both

Language: Greek

Religion: same

Slavery: in both

Economy: began as

farming communities