Exploring Writing - Gary Robert Muschla 2011

Exercise 2.10 Comparing and Contrasting Pets
Comparison and Contrast
Part 2. Writing the Draft

Comparing and contrasting are tools that allow writers to identify the similarities and differences between things. They help writers to highlight details. Comparing and contrasting help to make ideas clear.

Comparing shows similarities and contrasting shows differences. You should use comparison and contrast whenever you need to show how two ideas are alike and different.

There are two methods for comparing and contrasting. In method one, the author describes the first idea fully, then describes the second fully, showing how they are alike and different. In method two, the author describes one feature of the first idea and compares and contrasts it to the same feature of the second idea. The author then compares and contrasts the second feature, then the third, and so on.

Exercise 2.10 Comparing and Contrasting Pets

Think about the topics “cat” and “dog.” To compare and contrast cats and dogs, ask yourself how cats and dogs are alike and different. Some similarities might include the following:

✵ Both animals are mammals.

✵ Both are popular as pets.

✵ As pets they can become “members of the family.”

Differences might include the following:

✵ Dogs are more playful; cats like to “do their own thing.”

✵ Cats purr when contented; dogs wag their tails.

✵ Cats meow; dogs bark.

These are just some possibilities and it is likely you will come up with more.

Use comparing and contrasting in your own writing. For additional practice with comparison and contrast, do Worksheet 2.19 at the end of this section.