which one do i choose? comparing and contrasting

Which One Do I Choose? Comparing and ContrastingEng 050

Comparing and Contrasting

Whether or not you realize this, you compare and contrast things all of the time when making decisions.Which class do I take?Which candidate to vote for?Which pair of shoes do I buy?What do I have for dinner—burgers or pizza?

Comparing and contrasting allows us to compare and contrast the behavior of one subject to another by putting them next to each other.


Comparing—this method examines only the similarities

Contrasting---this method examines only the differences

Generally both are done in the same paper, but you can choose one or the other

Let’s read paragraph on page 198. What was the author’s purpose?Notice how she was able to both compare and

contrast in one paragraph. That’s because she narrowed down her topic in a very precise manner.


Let’s read a few more examples and discuss; specifically, we’ll read and discuss the paragraphs on page 199 and 200.Let’s examine Deborah Tannen’s paragraphs specifically. To give some background information, Tannen

is a linguist who has written several books about the difference in communication between men and women.

Notice that she compares two subjects that have a basis for comparison—specifically boys and girls.


Let’s look at the points she made.Overall topic: boys and girls socialize

differentlySpecific examples regarding girls

Play in small groups or pairsFocus on best friendCan make and break friendships with secretsSocialize in tight groups and have equal status


Specific examples regarding boysPlay in larger groups, usually outdoorsDo things rather than talkHave open groups and unequal statusTalk about competition

How did she organize this---by specific points (where she compared how girls play, then how boys play, then the size of girl’s social groups, then the size of boy’s social groups, etc)? Or by general topics (all the ways girls socialize, then all the ways boys socialize?)

You can choose either methodGenerally you choose general topics when the subject is straightforward


With compare and contrast, doing some prewriting work is very vital, because your end result has to be balancedIn other words, you need to have the same amount of points

for each comparison.Say you are comparing pizza to burgers. You need to think of

the general points of discussion (i.e., how each is made, how each tastes, the purchasing convenience, etc.), and give equal amounts of your time to both topics so that you don’t end up with six sentences on pizza, and only two on burgers.

Making up a list helps prevent this from happening.Note: If you do some prewriting, and still don’t have a balance of topics, it’s time to choose something else to compare.


When choosing your topic, you need to ensure that you are comparing two items that warrant a comparison.For example, comparing pizza and burgers---

both of which are “fast foods”---is a fair comparison. But comparing pizza to the U.S. political system makes no sense.

Here’s some straightforward suggestionsPat’s Steaks vs Geno’s SteaksLady Gaga and Madonna


Pre-teenagerCheerfulCommunicates with

parentsLoves schoolNo emotional

problemsResponsible at homeLooks forward to

getting up

TeenagerSullenAvoids, talks with

friendsHates school, won’t do

homeworkBursts into tears

without warningAvoids chores at homeHates to get out of

bed

Let’s go back to the example paragraph on page 198. If we picked apart this paragraph, the brainstorming list might look like this. Note how there’s an equal amount of points, and that they are arranged in order in each section.


Using some of the same examples, let’s talk about how you arrange your paragraphGeneral topics

This is how both Brownlee and Tannen’s paragraph are arranged—general topic.

Brownlee talks about preteens, and then teensTannen talks first about how girls socialize, and then how boys socialize


The structure could look different if you decided to do it point by point. Using the same examples, here’s what Brownlee’s paragraph would look like.

EmotionsPreteen emotionsTeen emotions

ChoresPreteen choresTeen chores

MorningsPreteen morningsTeen mornings


Here’s what Tannen’s paragraph would look like. Play

How girls playHow boys play

FriendshipsHow girls form relationshipsHow boys form relationships

CommunicationHow girls talk to each other and communicateHow boys talk to each other and communicate


So now it’s time to write a draft. Let’s go through our usual brainstorming to choose a topic.Coach handbags versus Lucky brand handbags

I’ve never worked at Lucky, so I probably don’t know enough about Lucky bags to write about this

Dressing for summer vs. dressing for winterThis is workable, and is something we can all relate to. But is there enough to it to work?

The works of Shakespeare vs. the works of Ben Jonson---huh? Snoozer! And way too large a topic. You need to keep your topic limited.


Lightweight to keep coolFun activity clothing like swimsuitsFreedom, don’t have to worry about coats

Warm sweaters and hoodiesJeans!Uggs

I think dressing for summer vs. dressing for winter is workable. Let’s do some brainstorming and ensure there’s enough to work with.Visually, using two separate lists works best to ensure you aren’t missing anything.I don’t feel like there’s enough here to work with…back to the drawing board


Okay, more topics…Going to plays vs. going to movies

Same basic material, totally different experiences

Pizza vs. burgersTwo classic American foods (with origins from other countries)

Two and a Half Men with Charlie Sheen vs Two and a Half Men with Ashton Kutcher

With this there’s no comparison…the new version isn’t funny


Before we begin, we need to make a list. Let’s explore the similarities.

Both can be dressed up or dressed downMcDonald’s/Pizza Hut$100 Kobe beef burger/$150 pizza with lobster and truffles

Both can be made in a variety of waysVegetarian or with turkey (Burgers)Many different toppings (Burgers and Pizza)

ConvenientEaten in car, with one-hand, take out

Classic American foods with origins in other countries

Germany for burgers, and Italy for pizzaAmericans made these foods their own

Now the differences…Pizza

More vegetarian friendlyMore difficult to make at homeMore popular in certain parts of the US than others More likely to be found in specialty restaurants Mostly eaten on its own (just pizza)

Burgers

With very few exceptions made with real meat, and so not vegetarian friendlyEasy to make at homePopular everywhere in the USMore likely to be found in chain restaurantsMore likely to be consumed with side dishes (French fries)


Are we comfortable with these lists? Assuming we are, let’s start writing. We can always revise.

When considering which delicious but bad-for-me-food with which to cheat on my diet, hamburgers and pizza are two that come to mind. They are both tasty and quick to eat, with interesting culinary histories that can be traced to Europe (Germany and Italy, respectively). Better yet, they can both be consumed in the car, making them very convenient for me as I race from one destination to another. However, often pizza gets the edge. It’s a little tougher to find, because there’s many more chain restaurants devoted to burgers than pizza. But there’s something about the delicious combination of tomato sauce and cheese that wins me over every time. Plus there’s no extra temptation of French fries to eat, which always increases the cholesterol, calorie, and carbohydrate count. Hamburgers are a food dear to my heart, but pizza remains my first food love.


Are we happy with this paragraph? We need to go over to make sure each aspect is covered evenly (did I use more points about one food than the other?

When considering which delicious but bad-for-me-food with which to cheat on my diet, hamburgers and pizza are two that come to mind. They are both tasty and quick to eat, with interesting culinary histories that can be traced to Europe (Germany and Italy, respectively). Better yet, they can both be consumed in the car, making them very convenient for me as I race from one destination to another. However, often pizza gets the edge. It’s a little tougher to find, because there’s many more chain restaurants devoted to burgers than pizza. But there’s something about the delicious combination of tomato sauce and cheese that wins me over every time. Plus there’s no extra temptation of French fries to eat, which always increases the cholesterol, calorie, and carbohydrate count. Hamburgers are a food dear to my heart, but pizza remains my first food love.


Note too that we didn’t use every point. That’s okay as long as we covered it evenly. The lists are there to help you gather your thoughts.Now let’s do an exercise of our own, shall we?

Comparing and ContrastingLet’s look at the following two images. To

the left is “The Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh. To the right is a painting by Jackson Pollock (title unknown). We’re going to look at each painting separately and take some notes.


Now that we’ve take some notes, let’s do a compare and contrast paragraph in class.


And let’s not forget our checklist:Subjects and verbs

Does each sentence have one of each of these? And do the tenses of the sentence and verb “agree”?

PronounsDo your pronouns “agree” with each other?

Modifier ErrorsAre your modifiers as close as possible to the words they modify? More on that later.


Checklist continuedPunctuation and mechanics

Are your sentences punctuated correctly?Are your words capitalized when necessary (and not capitalized when not necessary)?

Word choice and SpellingDid you choose the correct words? Remember, when it doubt look them up, or use another word.Spelling—Again, look up words you aren’t sure of.

which one do i choose? comparing and contrasting

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