UNIT-4

COMPARISON/CONTRAST ESSAY

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.

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.

COMPARISON= similarities

CONTRAST= differences

Two Ways to Write a Compare and

Contrast Essay

1. Block Method2. Point –by- Point Method

POINT-BY POINT METHOD

I. 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

I. Introduction a) Attention Getter

or Hook b) Background

Information c) Thesis

II. CAR a) Price b) Mileage c) Insurance

Outline - Block Method

III. TRUCKa) Priceb) Mileagec) Insurance

IV. Conclusiona) Emphasize Major Tiesb) So What?c) Evaluation

Outline - Point by Point

I. Introductiona) Attention Getter or

Hookb) Background

Informationc) Thesis

II. Price a) CAR b) TRUCKIII. 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

"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.

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.

 

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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 ex-boyfriends were alike in bringing happiness in my life, the things that they did and the qualities that they displayed awere not the same.

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.

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.

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.