Comparison and Contrast

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Comparison and Contrast

• Organization
• Block versus Point-by-Point

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A Comparison or Contrast essay is an essay in
which you either compare something or contrast
something. 

• A comparison essay is an essay in which you
  emphasize the similarities.
• A contrast essay is an essay in which you
  emphasize the differences. 

3
We use comparison and contrast thinking when
deciding

• which university to attend
• which car to buy,
• whether to drive a car or take a bus or an
  airplane to a vacation site.

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Two classic organizational patterns of a
comparison or contrast essay are

• block arrangement of ideas
• point-by-point or alternating arrangement of
  ideas. 

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• Suppose you are interested in showing the
  differences between vacationing in the mountains
  and vacationing at the beach. 
• You will then write a contrast composition.

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• One way to arrange your material is to use the
  block arrangement which is to write about
  vacationing in the mountains in one paragraph and
  vacationing at the beach in the next. 
• If you mention a particular point in the
  mountains paragraph, you must mention the same
  point in the beach paragraph, and in the same
  order. 

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Study the following outline, which shows this
kind of organization.
Block Arrangement (four paragraphs) Block Arrangement (four paragraphs)
I. Introduction in which you state your purpose which is to discuss the differences between vacationing in the mountains or at the beach
II. MountainA.  ClimateB.  Types of Activities  C.  Location 
III. BeachA.  ClimateB.  Types of Activities  C.  Location 
IV. Conclusion
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• The introductory paragraph is followed by the
  mountains paragraph, the beach paragraph, then
  the conclusion.
• The fully developed essay is just four paragraphs.

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• A second way to organize this material is to
  discuss a particular point about vacationing in
  the mountains and then immediately to discuss the
  same point about vacationing at the beach. 
• This is called point-by-point or alternating
  arrangement. 
• An outline of this organization follows.

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Point-by-Point or Alternating Arrangement (five paragraphs) Point-by-Point or Alternating Arrangement (five paragraphs)
I. Introduction in which you state your purpose which is to discuss differences between vacationing in the mountains or at the beach
II. First difference between mountains and beaches is climateA.  MountainsB.  Beach
III. Second difference between mountains and beaches are types of activitiesA.  MountainsB.  Beach
IV. Third difference between mountains and beaches is the locationA.  MountainsB.  Beach
V. Conclusion
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Application  Block or Point-by-Point

• Examine the comparison or contrast essays that
  follow, and decide whether the authors used block
  arrangement or point-by-point (or alternating)
  arrangement. 
• Noticing essay arrangement will help you become
  a better, more conscious reader and writer.  

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Vacationing at the Beach or in the Mountains

• Read your copy of this essay and determine
  whether it is organized in block arrangement or
  point-by-point arrangement.

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Is the essay organized using block or
point-by-point arrangement of details? 

• Note first the essay is four paragraphs, (1) an
  introduction, (2) a paragraph about vacationing
  in the mountains, (3) a paragraph about
  vacationing at the beach, and (4) a conclusion.
•  

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• This is the block arrangement, the first block
  containing information about mountains and the
  second block containing information about the
  beach.   

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Consuming Fresh Foods Instead of Canned Foods

• The following essay contrasts eating fresh foods
  and canned foods. 
• Read your copy of this essay and determine if its
  organization is block or point-by-point? 

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• This essay is the "classic" five paragraph essay.
• This essays also contains the "classic"
  point-by-point organization, each point stated
  and developed in a single paragraph. 
• The essay contains five paragraphs that contrast
  three differences between fresh and canned foods. 

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• The essay includes
• (1) an introduction
• (2) the development of the first difference
  (flavor)
• (3) the development of the second difference
  (health benefits)
• (4) the development of the third difference
  (cost)
• (5) a conclusion 

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• In the true classic tradition, the three main
  differences in this contrast essayflavor, health
  benefits, and costare stated both in the
  introduction and the conclusion as well. 

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Ticket Out the Door

• Create an outline contrasting one of the
  following (and tell whether your outline is for a
  block or a point-by-point essay)
• -cookies and ice cream
• -dogs and cats
• -children and teenagers
• -hotdogs and hamburgers
• -motorcycles and bicycles