The World We Know Today

EAP1640 - Level 6 Writing (Virtual College, MDC)

Author: Professor Irasema Fernandez (do not copy or redistribute) (Unit 3: Lesson 1) Page 1 of 6

UNIT 3. LESSON 1 - Elements of Comparison and/or Contrast Essays

INTRODUCTION In this lesson, we will focus on:

A. Methods of Organization B. Organizational Patterns C. Unity and Coherence

We use comparison and contrast essays to help us better understand (1) the similarities, (2) the differences, and/or (3) the similarities and the differences between, or among, two or more things or ideas.

These essays can help us make sense of the world around us and make better decisions about our actions. They also can change or strengthen our opinions. In other words, they can help us to think critically about a subject.

A. Methods of Organization

There are three Methods of Organization for Comparison and/or Contrast Essays:

• The Comparison Essay • The Contrast Essay • The Comparison and Contrast Essay

The comparison essay discusses how two things are alike; it compares or discusses similarities.

Think about Thesis Statement A:

Thesis Statement A: The two major political parties, the Republican and the Democratic Parties, are similar in their intention to protect the country, the people, and their own interests.

You can look at this thesis statement in the following way:

Topics

the Republican Party

the Democratic Party Controlling Idea

(Method of Organization)

are similar in their intention to protect

Points

(or Categories)

the country

the people

their own interests

EAP1640 - Level 6 Writing (Virtual College, MDC)

Author: Professor Irasema Fernandez (do not copy or redistribute) (Unit 3: Lesson 1) Page 1 of 6

The thesis of the comparison essay includes:

• the topic (two topics to compare) = the Republican and Democratic parties • the controlling idea (take a position) = are similar in their intention to protect • the branches (points or categories) = the country, the people, and their own interests

Note: Comparisons can be less interesting than contrasts unless you write a comparison essay when you know that the points to compare are interesting, unusual or unexpected.

The contrast essay discusses how two things are not similar; it contrasts or discusses differences. The contrast essay presents a totally different point of view.

The thesis of the contrast essay also includes:

• the topic (two topics to contrast) • the controlling idea (take a position) • the branches (points or categories)

Thesis Statement B: The two major political parties, the Republican and the Democratic Parties, are different in the way they protect the country, the people, and their own interests.

The comparison and contrast essay discusses how two things are similar and also different, it compares and contrasts two points in one essay.

The thesis of the comparison and contrast essay also includes:

• the topic (two topics to compare and contrast) • the controlling idea (take a position) • the branches (points or categories)

Thesis Statement C: The two major political parties, the Republican and the Democratic Parties, are both similar and different in their ideas about how to best protect the country, the people, and their own interests.

B. Organizational Patterns

There are three organizational patterns that can help when writing one of these types of comparison and or contrast essays. These are:

1. Block Method Pattern 2. Point-By-Point Method Pattern 3. Similarities and Differences Method Pattern

EAP1640 - Level 6 Writing (Virtual College, MDC)

Author: Professor Irasema Fernandez (do not copy or redistribute) (Unit 3: Lesson 1) Page 1 of 6

1. BLOCK METHOD PATTERN

• The block method takes all the aspects of one of the two topics and discusses them in one paragraph, and the other topic is discussed in the other developmental paragraph.

• In other words, if you have two topics—THE REPUBLICAN PARTY and THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY- the body of the essay may have only two developmental paragraphs. Each developmental paragraph will address one of the topics and the same points or categories.

The Block Method Detailed Outline

Thesis Statement D: Some of the differences that make the Republican Party a better party to lead this country are their immigration policies, tax reforms, and homeland security.

Developmental Paragraph 1: The Democratic Party is the least favorable party to lead this country for three reasons.

• It is in favor of immigration to the US. • It wants to increase taxes to homeowners. • It has little or no experience on how to defend our country.

Developmental Paragraph 2: The Republican Party would be the most favorable party to lead this country because it proposes three courses of action that would benefit the American people.

• It is in favor of controlling immigration to the US. • It wants to decrease taxes to homeowners. • It has a lot of the first-hand experience on how to defend our country.

2. POINT-BY-POINT METHOD PATTERN

• The other method is the point-by-point method. It takes each point of comparison or contrast and discusses it for both topics before moving on to the next point.

• Each of these points will be discussed regarding the Republican and the Democratic Parties. This method will force the essay to have as many developmental paragraphs as there are points or categories (similarities or differences) to consider.

The Point-Point Method Detailed Outline

Thesis Statement E: Some of the differences that make the Republican Party better than the Democratic Party to govern the U.S. are their immigration policies, tax reforms, and homeland security.

Developmental Paragraph 1: While the Democratic Party is in favor of immigration to the US, the Republican Party wants to control the indiscriminate influx of immigrants to the U.S.

• Supporting Detail to DP 1: Differing from the strategies that the Democratic Party has toward immigration to the US, the Republican Party wants to control the indiscriminate influx of immigrants to the US by making immigration legal and building a wall.

EAP1640 - Level 6 Writing (Virtual College, MDC)

Author: Professor Irasema Fernandez (do not copy or redistribute) (Unit 3: Lesson 1) Page 1 of 6

Developmental Paragraph 2: The Democratic Party thinks that increasing taxes to homeowners will bring revenue to the country; however, the Republican Party thinks that taxpayers are already paying enough.

• Supporting Detail to DP 2: Contrary to the Democratic Party, the Republican Party thinks that taxpayers are already paying enough since more taxation will hurt the middle class and small businesses, and empower government.

Developmental Paragraph 3: The Democratic Party lack of military training limits their leaders when it comes to securing our country, but the Republican Party’s first-hand experience on how to defend our country would make their candidates more suitable for the job.

• Supporting Detail to DP 3: The Democratic Party’s experience on securing our land is limited compared to the experience the Republican Party has on how to defend our country making it the most powerful force in the world as they defend the land, stop terrorism and protect Americans wherever they happen to be.

3. SIMILARITIES and DIFFERENCES METHOD

• A variation of the block method discusses all the similarities in one paragraph and all the differences in another.

• In any case, each topic should get approximately the same amount of space in your writing. This type of essay may end up having two developmental paragraphs or four developmental paragraphs depending on the amount of information the writer wants to provide; thus, it will end up having four or six paragraphs when the introduction and the conclusion paragraphs are included.

The Similarities And Differences Method Detailed Outline

Thesis Statement F: There are some similarities and differences between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party.

Developmental Paragraph 1: Republican and the Democratic Parties are similar in that both protect the land, its, people, and their interest.

• the land, • its people, and • their interests

Developmental Paragraph 2: Republican and the Democratic Parties are different mainly on issues of immigration policies, tax reform, and education.

• immigration policies, • tax reforms, and • education

EAP1640 - Level 6 Writing (Virtual College, MDC)

Author: Professor Irasema Fernandez (do not copy or redistribute) (Unit 3: Lesson 1) Page 1 of 6

With any of the methods you may want to use, the comparison and/or contrast essay is used to inform the reader of the writer’s point of view. You can choose the structure that best suits your style and your needs.

C. Unity and Coherence

Unity is achieved when all the parts of your essay relate in one way or another to the thesis. This is not different in comparison and/or contrast essay writing.

In order to achieve unity, you need to have in mind three important points:

1. Two equivalent topics o Use topics from the same group.

 You can compare an animal to another animal NOT to a tree. o Use topics that create analogies.

 You can compare a strong man with a tree or a difficult life with a long road.

2. Solid supporting points o Use important components that compare or contrast.

 If comparing two houses, compare square footage, location, and price. 3. A clear focus on comparison, contrast or both

o Use strong points that clearly demonstrate the comparison or contrast.  Look at similarities, or look at differences, or look at similarities and

differences. 

Coherence is referred to as the smooth transition that takes place from sentence to sentence and/or from paragraph to paragraph. Connecting words, phrases or even ideas can help you with this task.

To make your writing more coherent, use the following transition words in comparison writing:

Use with nouns as part of a noun phrase Both…and Not only…but Like… Similar to …

Use with independent ideas Similarly, …. In the same way, ….

Use with dependent ideas

EAP1640 - Level 6 Writing (Virtual College, MDC)

Author: Professor Irasema Fernandez (do not copy or redistribute) (Unit 3: Lesson 1) Page 1 of 6

To blend ideas, use the following transition words in contrast writing:

Use with nouns as part of a noun phrase Unlike… Use with independent ideas Conversely, …

In contrast, … On the other hand, …

Use with dependent ideas Although … Even though … Though…