The Comparison and Contrast Paragraph

Let's see in details on "The Comparison and Contrast Paragraph" for your better understanding and higher education. In the two preceding chapters, you have been introduced to the comparison and the contrast paragraphs. In this one, you will see a combination of the two.

The comparison and contrast paragraph is a two technique paragraph in which both the methods of comparison and contrast are used. It serves a double purpose of comparing and contrasting two subjects. In other words, the function of this kind of dual paragraph is to point out both the similarities and the dissimilarities between the two given subjects.

It is important for you to observe that the examples of similarities and dissimilarities should not be arranged in a chaotic and disorderly manner. In order to give a neat presentation to your ideas, you should have two separate sets of developers. T h e purpose of the first set of developers will be to show the similarities, while that of the second will be to present the differences. In the first part, you should follow the technique of comparison and in the second you should use the technique of contrast. Obviously, you will need a transitional sentence to m o v e from one part to another.

The topic sentence of such paragraphs should also have a double focus. That means, it should contain two controlling ideas.

Here is a model comparison and contrast paragraph for your perusal:

Two Friends

There are both similarities and differences between the two friends A and B. T h e first similarity between them is that both of them belong to the same social class and both are snobbish. Secondly, both are university teachers. Thirdly, both A and B are good tennis players. But in other respects, they are very much different from each other. For example. A is a great talker, while B is very reticent. Another difference is that A is an alcoholic. On the other hand, B is a perfect teetotaler. Moreover, A has a prodigal habit of spending money but B is very frugal is his habits. In fact, inspite of having some similarities between them, the two friends are dissimilar.

You have seen that the topic sentence of this paragraph contains two controlling ideas. They are similarities and differences. Then the first cluster of developers deals with the first controlling idea. In this group, each of the examples has been shown in a single sentence. After this, there is a context modulator followed by the second set of developers dealing with the second controlling idea. In this section, the examples of A have alternated with the examples of B. As usual, there is then a concluding sentence to mark the end of the paragraph. 

So the structural pattern of this comparison and contrast paragraph is - TS + ( A B ) r . ' + (AB)2 , + (AB)3 + CM + AjBi, + A2B2 + A3B3 + CS.

     
Following this pattern, you can n o w write your own paragraphs of this type. Remember, this is a combination of the comparison paragraph and the contrast paragraph.

MAIN POINTS

     i) The comparison and contrast paragraph is developed by combining the methods of comparison and contrast.

     ii) It consists of two sets of developers with a context modulator in the middle.

     iii) The developers are arranged in either of the two ways used in the comparison and the contrast paragraphs.

VOCABULARY ENRICHMENT

     alcoholic - person addicted to alcoholic drink

     chaotic - confused; disorderly

     cluster - number of things of the same kind being closely together

     dual - double; which is intended to serve two purposes

     frugal - economical

     Perusal - the act of reading closely

     prodigal — wasteful; spending too much

     reticent - in the habit of saying little

     snobbish - who pays too much respect to social position or wealth

     teetotaler - person abstaining from alcoholic drink

EXERCISES

Write paragraphs on the following topics using the method of comparison and contrast:

     a) Road and Railway communications

     b) Islam and Christianity

     c) Table tennis and Lawn Tennis

     d) Public and Private universities

     c) College and University