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Comparison Contrast Essay. Comparison/Contrast. Comparison: similarities of objects, qualities, actions. Contrast: differences in objects, qualities, actions. Purposes.
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Comparison/Contrast • Comparison: similarities of objects, qualities, actions. • Contrast: differences in objects, qualities, actions.
Purposes • Reveal surprising or frequently overlooked likenesses or differences to add to reader’s knowledge, satisfy their curiosity or develop their self-awareness. • Explain generational differences over responsibility for housework. (Younger generations might share cooking and cleaning; home maintenance reserved for males). • Show superiority of one thing over another. • Examine two antismoking campaigns; one by teens, one by advertising professionals. Show which is more effective. • Explain or evaluate (alternatives or differing viewpoints on an issue). • Should companies be forced to label genetically modified foods? • Explain the unfamiliar by comparing it to the familiar. • Wedding customs in Ethiopia and Kansas. • Explore a thesis. • Thesis: Animals have emotional lives similar to humans. Compare pet to sibling.
Developing Comparisons • Make logical comparisons that are arranged in a manner that will be clear to your readers. • Subjects should be of the same general type. • Modern medicine (prescription drugs, surgery) vs. traditional medicine (herbal remedies, acupuncture). • Not surgery vs. carpentry. • Provide detailed explanations of the similarities and differences in order to support your conclusions.
Strategies • Begin by identifying points of comparison/ contrast. • Consider the following questions to identify and explore points of comparison. • What are similar/different • Physical aspects (color, shape, size, texture, movement) of subjects you are analyzing? • Parts and Processes (elements and their relationships, methods of operation, instructions)? • Benefits (individual, social, political, environmental)? • Problems (dangers, difficulties, limitations)? • Costs (financial, emotional, political)? • Uses (personal, social, environmental; to provide benefits, to create relationships, to accomplish a particular goal)?
Questions to develop fresh insights: • What similarities or differences are readers likely to find… • Intriguing or surprising? • Useful or worth learning about? • Quite different from what they expected before they began? • Similar enough to make them more likely to consider different opinions on an issue or approaches to a problem? • Important enough to guide their choice among alternative policies, products or conclusions.?
Patterns of Organization • Subject-by-Subject (Block): present one subject and explore all points of comparison; present second subject and explore same points of comparison. • Point-by-Point: focus on points of comparison; explore each subject in terms of each point of comparison.
Subject-by-Subject • Subject: Bella Costa Medical Center (curing illness) and Foothills Regional Health Complex (creating wellness). • Thesis: Today’s health care dilemmas have gone beyond choices among insurance plans to choices between two very different kinds of medical treatment: one focused on curing illness (Bella Costa) and the other focused on creating wellness (Foothills).
Subject-by-Subject • Subject 1: Bella Costa Medical Center • Feature 1: Type of medicine: Traditional • Feature 2: Large staff • Feature 4: Emphasis on drugs, surgery, PT • Subject 2: Foothills Regional Health Complex • Feature 1: Type of medicine: Alternative • Feature 2: Some physicians, nutritionists, exercise specialists • Feature 3: Emphasis on diet, exercise, alternative therapies, healthy lifestyle.
Subject-by-Subject • Conclusion: Summarize reasons for choosing either one and suggest that personal preferences may play an important role.
Subject-by-Subject • Conclusion: Summarize reasons for choosing either one and suggest that personal preferences may play an important role.
Point-by-Point • Subject: The Mummy (1932) starring Boris Karloff and The Mummy (1999) starring Brendan Fraser. • Thesis: The original version of The Mummy takes itself and the horror movie form seriously and provides an often scary portrayal of evil while the remake (1999) takes itself only half-seriously and gently pokes fun at the conventions of the horror movie, so it is only occasionally scary and conveys no sense of evil.
Point-by-Point • Point 1: Acting style • Subject 1: Boris Karloff, serious acting style, dramatic scenes and speeches. • Subject 2: Brendan Fraser, comic or ironic acting style, action scenes and physical comedy. • Point 2: Script • Subject 1: 1932 provides motivation for characters, emphasizes force of evil desires • Subject 2: 1999 provides little motivation for characters, highlights stereotypes and conventions of horror movies.
Point-by-Point • Point 3: Special effects • Subject 1: 1932: support storyline , emphasize unnatural desires and presence of evil. • Subject 2: 1999: Call attention to themselves, emphasize unreal and exaggerated element of horror stories. • Conclusion: Original and remake show changing attitudes toward the horror movie as a portrait of evil.