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Strategy A could be labeled "all of X, All of Y." After a
suitable introductory paragraph, the writer would say all there is about X
with appropriate support or examples, and then in another paragraph all
there is about Y. The conclusion might do well to point out the salient
points of agreement or disagreement. Strategy A is difficult to manage
because the reader may have trouble holding both the X information and the
Y information in her head until she reaches the conclusion.
Strategy
B is the point by point method. Once a writer gets his topic firmly in
mind, he arranges his points of comparison in ascending order of
importance and then talks about each of the items he is comparing in
turn. So, a body paragraph using strategy B has the following structure:
| Transition
to thesis |
| Topic
sentence |
| Information
about item X with examples |
| Transition |
| Information
about item Y with examples
|
Example
paragraph:
A
second difference between Great Lakes beaches and ocean beaches is what
beachcombers can find at the water's edge that nature has deposited.
Walking along the shore of Lake Michigan or Lake Superior, I fill my
pockets with smooth stones of many colors and fossils such as crinoids or
Petosky stones. In contrast, an Atlantic Ocean beach yields shells of many
kinds, starfish, and sand dollars.
| Transition
to thesis |
A
second difference |
| Topic
sentence |
A
second difference between Great Lakes beaches and ocean beaches is
what beachcombers can find at the water's edge that nature has
deposited. |
| Information
about item X with examples |
Walking
along the shore of Lake Michigan or Lake Superior, I fill my
pockets with smooth stones of many colors and fossils such as
crinoids or Petosky stones. |
| Transition |
In
contrast |
| Information
about item Y with examples
|
an
Atlantic Ocean beach yields shells of many kinds, starfish, and
sand dollars. |
Simple
essays of this genre usually focus on either comparison or contrast but
not usually both. Often is it wise to acknowledge the similarities or
differences--whichever one the writer is not focusing on in the paper--in
the opening paragraph.
It
can be a useful exercise to draw a rectangular diagram for each body
paragraph blocking out the parts in order to show that both sides of the
comparison/contrast should get equal emphasis.
 Key
Idea
The
thesis in a comparison/contrast paper can be fact or opinion.
Possible
Topics:
1.
A
small college versus a large university
2. A
visit to a place you left a long time ago might prompt an essay about
"the way it was" versus "the way it is now."
3. College
versus high school
4. Expectations
(about college, summer camp, the first date, marriage, a job) versus
reality
5. The
Greek and Roman empires
6. The
view of creation in Genesis and the stories in another culture of the
ancient Near East (the Gilgamesh Epic?)
7. The
Articles of Confederation versus the Constitution
8. The
Democratic Party versus the Republican Party
9. The
JFK assassination and the Lincoln assassination
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