Comparison-Contrast

Discussing similarities and differences is a useful way for writers to add depth and development to a piece of writing.  This strategy can be used to develop essays and paragraphs in many modes of writing—narrative, argumentative, and of course comparison-contrast.

In narrative essays, comparison-contrast paragraphs can be used to enhance and amplify descriptions, clarify characters and conflicts, and to develop the overall meanings for the narrative.    

Examples:

Arriving on campus for the first time when I was a freshman was a bit like visiting another country.  I did not know where anything was, I did not know anyone, I needed a map to get around, and every person seemed to be speaking in some kind of foreign language.  

My cousin John was striking in his resemblance to Denzel Washington, and many people commented on it to him.  He was tall, powerful, and had a commanding presence.  His chin was sharp and square like Denzel’s and he had deep and probing brown eyes, just like the famous actor.  John loved this resemblance because it made meeting women extremely easy.

 The process of building a solar-powered car for the Solar Decathlon was a lot like putting together a huge, complicated puzzle.  Only when building the car, the team had nothing to go on but their own ingenuity and knowledge of the basics of engineering.  There were over six thousand moving parts in the final design, each fitting together in a unique way to make the car go.   

If you’ve never jumped out of an airplane, it feels like running down a hill at three hundred miles per hour, with the wind whipping past your face. 

In argument essays, comparison paragraphs can be used to argue by comparison and consistency:

Examples:

Electing a different president or changing a government in the middle of a war is like switching horses in the middle of a race.  The expertise and personnel in charge of the nation’s resources are best used consistently and resolutely, in pursuit of clearly stated goals.  Changing directions and policies during a war sends entirely the wrong message to the nation’s enemies. 

When  a student fails to go to class, it is like purchasing something expensive—like a car—and then abandoning it.   The valuable thing that a student gets when she takes a class is the experience and the knowledge that the class can provide.  Not attending, not taking advantage of the faculty member’s expertise is a waste of time and money.

Building solid infrastructure for a region—roads, bridges, utilities, public transit—is very much like maintaining healthy bones, blood, and organs in a human body.  Just like a person can’t function when his liver or kidneys are not working, a city can’t function when its wastewater treatment plants are inefficient.  Well-developed public transit systems help move people and resources around to where they need to be, much in the same way that arteries and veins move red and white blood cells to important parts of the body.