Compare and Contrast Short Passages

What do you use to help you compare and contrast?

• Venn Diagram

• Graph

• Poster

• Table of Contents

Sometimes a writing prompt may not contain the words “compare and contrast.” However, it may still be asking you to analyze how things are similar and different. Read the following writing prompts. Which one is most likely asking you to compare and contrast?

• Would you rather meet Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King, Jr.? Why?

• Summarize the article about Abe Lincoln.

• MLK was a great man.

This organizational structure is seen when a passage explains how two things are similar and how they are different.

• Chronological/

  Sequential

• Cause & Effect

• Compare & Contrast

• Proposition & Support

Compare and contrast:

• The order in which a series of events happened.

• This is a relationship in which one thing causes another thing to happen.

• The structure of compare and contrast analyzes the relationships between ideas in a text. Comparing analyzes the similarities, while contrasting analyzes the differences.

• Organizes text by listing supporting details from most important to least important, or by least important to most important.

Describe the TEXT STRUCTURE of the following: While donuts and pies are both sweets that are round, they are very different from each other. Pies are prepared in the oven, while donuts are deep fried. One is typically for breakfast, while the other is a dessert. They both come in many flavors and are delicious!

• Cause and Effect

• Sequence

• Description

• Compare and Contrast

What are examples of Text STRUCTURE?

• Context clues and reading the questions first

• Pictures, headings, and maps that help us understand more about the reading.

• The overall way the text is organized.

• Cause/Effect, Chronological, Problem/Solution, Compare/Contrast

Which of the following is a tool commonly used to compare and contrast two short passages?

• Venn Diagram

• Pie Chart

• Bar Graph

• Timeline

When comparing and contrasting two characters in a story, which of the following aspects would you most likely examine?

• Their favorite colors

• Their roles in the plot

• The number of pages they appear on

• The font size of the text

Which sentence structure is most effective for comparing and contrasting two ideas?

• Simple sentence

• Compound sentence

• Complex sentence

• Compound-complex sentence

In a compare and contrast essay, what is the primary purpose of the conclusion?

• To introduce new information

• To summarize the main points

• To present a counterargument

• To provide a detailed analysis