Compare and Contrast

          You may already know that comparing and contrasting are writing strategies; however, they are such good writing strategies because they emulate the way people think. We compare and contrast the new to what we already know in order to understand the new and to sharpen our understanding of the old.

          Let me give you an example. Have you ever heard of the British game of cricket? It's like our baseball. Those who play cricket play with a bat and a ball; they have a guy, like our pitcher, who throws the ball toward the batter, trying to get it by him. And, if the batter hits the ball, he takes off running, just like our baseball players do.

          Notice, here, to explain it to you, I began with points of comparison -- that is, the points on which the two games are similar. What I've done is to have begun with a VALID BASIS OF COMPARISON. This valid basis of comparison is the first feature of comparing and contrasting.

          Now that you have a rough idea about cricket -- that it's a game in some ways like our baseball -- I, the comparer and contraster, go on to show the specific differences. (And if I knew more about cricket, I'd have this better organized, but...)

          I'd talk to you about the specific differences between the bats and the balls. Baseball uses a cylindrical bat, tapered at the grip, getting fatter toward the end that hits the ball. Cricket, on the other hand, uses a bat that  has a cylindrical handle for the grip, but then flattens out to look like a long, thick, wooden paddle. The baseball is smaller and harder than the cricket ball....

          My point here is that comparison/contrast consists of two features:

1. A valid basis of comparison
2. A narrow focus on specific and related differences

          Let me get away from my area of ignorance (cricket) and into another example. Have you ever heard of the expression "apples and oranges"?  "Ah," someone might say, "That's like apples and oranges." What it means is that the two things being talked about are so different that they can't be compared.  But watch what you can do with a valid basis of comparison...

          Suppose you've won the lottery, and you buy your mansion on a huge piece of land, on which there are two orchards: one apple, the other orange.  Say each orchard occupies about 1000 acres. Nice, right? Well, because money has been on your mind lately, you begin to wonder: which one yields more profit?

          Ah-ha! What you have there is a valid basis of comparison. That is, both your apple orchard and your orange orchard yield profit. With this, you can develop a comparison/contrast analysis. With "profitability" as your basis for comparison (just as cricket and baseball had valid bases of comparison), you then move on to CONTRAST SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES. For example, you could build a paragraph for each of the following:

         Demand -- which crop has a greater demand?
         Maintenance -- which crop costs more to maintain?
             water
             pesticides
             labor costs
             vulnerability to climate -- which is heartier
         Production -- which produces more?

Now, if you were so inclined, you could begin your comparison/contrast analysis of your orchards as follows:

    Introduction: Something about how lovely your trees are, how rich you
        are, and how you've embarked on this work to find out which of
        your two orchards make your richer.
        [Here, you've established your VALID BASIS OF COMPARISON.]   

    In the body of your work, you would CONTRAST SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES:
        Maintenance...
        Production...
        Demand...

          And, in your conclusion, you would assert which crop is more profitable (which, if you'll recall from ANALYSIS, provides an answer to Why is this important?)


A SAMPLE COMPARISON/CONTRAST

          The following essay was written for a freshman composition class by Angela Waugh. Here she compares and contrasts her stepfather to her biological father. So, what is the VALID BASIS OF COMPARISON? Both are her father.  Watch:

[Now, what Ms. Waugh has done here is to provide the reader with a reason for this comparison/contrast and a valid basis of comparison.  Have done that, she embarks on developing specific differences.  Watch...]
   

[Two very important points here. 

1. Ms. Waugh makes a claim (a number of them in this case) and supports that claim with specific, concrete detail.
2. But also notice how she structures those claims:

She moves from a claim to supporting evidence for that claim, and the evidence is organized in a point, counter-point fashion.]

         One last example.

         If you were going to compare two teachers, say, two teachers that you like, a temptation is simply to list the likeable qualities for both:

         Teacher X is funny, smart, patient
         Teacher Y is soft-spoken, concerned about her students, organized

         To develop contrasts about them, however, you might look specifically at humor, say.

         "One major difference between Teacher X and Teacher Y is the humor each uses in a classroom (to borrow a phrase from Ms. Waugh -- notice that it's a claim). Teacher X is very funny (another claim). I remember the first time I walked into the classroom, there she was... (Now, notices here that I'm putting my evidence in the form of a story, or narrative. Absolutely OK. But, you can also imagine that this story may take up more than one paragraph; perhaps as many as three or four. Bear in mind the point/counterpoint of your structure. So, what's next?...)

         (You might be tempted to talk about the soft-spoken quality of Teacher Y, but errrrrrr, errrrrr -- Nope. You need to stick specifically to the idea of humor.) "Teacher Y is not especially funny. Indeed, I can remember only once when she tried to make a joke..." (And again, you are welcome to use a story to support your claim. And this story would show that Teacher Y blew a joke or embarrassed someone in the class or even herself... But you get the point, here, yes?)

         What makes comparison/contrasts easy to write is the fact that you can look at one thing -- go back to that bad example of cricket and baseball -- you can look at the specific points about baseball that you know -- e.g., 4 bases, 9 innings, 9 players, 3 outs) and use what you know as a guide to find out what you need to say about the other thing, for the sake of a balanced contrast.

 You see how that works? It makes developing a contrast real easy...

Good luck