COMPARISON AND CONTRAST

Another useful organizational pattern is comparison and contrast. At the outset a clarification of these terms is important. If your teacher says to write a contrast paragraph or theme, he is obviously asking you to discuss the dissimilarities of two (usually, though there may be more) people, things, objects, etc. But, if your teacher asks for a comparison of two (usually, though there may be more) people or things, he does not necessarily mean to find only similarities. Comparison and contrast are broad terms which indicate you are to judge two people or objects or institutions or whatever against a set of principles.

One of the best ways to learn how to use comparison and contrast is to learn what not to do. First, make sure your components are comparable. Comparing Jimmy Carter and Charles Manson would be as foolish as comparing baseballs and house cats. Comparing the former President of the United States, former Governor of Georgia, Annapolis graduate, and dedicated Christian to a convicted murderer would be futile except in a sociology class. Comparing Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon or Charles Manson and Richard Speck would be more productive. Even a contrast of Carter and Manson would be difficult, since outside of being male humans, they have nothing in common. In both comparison and contrast, there must be some relation, some common ground between the two elements.