Module 6

Information taken from:Butler, L. Fundamentals of Academic Writing. LongmanHogue, A. (2008). First Steps in Academic Writing. Longman.

Comparison and Contrast is a technique that we use everyday.We compare and contrast products and prices when we shop.A job applicant compares and contrasts job offers.

Comparing

To compare means to discusshow two people, places, orthings are similar.

For example,

Both teachers and studentsneed to spend a lot of timepreparing for classes.

Model Paragraph – Questions

Read and analyze the following paragraph, and answerthese questions:

1. What two things does the paragraph talk about?2. Is the paragraph mostly comparing or contrasting? Howdo you know?

Model Paragraph

Cellular Phones and the Internet

In recent years, new technology such as cellular telephones and the

Internet have made life more convenient. Cellular telephones allow people to

talk to one another almost anywhere. Likewise, the Internet give people the

ability to talk to one another very easily, even across countries. Second,

cellular phones and the Internet are available 24 hours per day, so people can

speak or connect at any time, day or night. Another convenient quality of these

two types of technology is that they both allow people to find out information

without even leaving one’s home. A person can access the Internet through

most types of cellular phones, and the Internet can be used to look up virtually

any topic of interest. Clearly, cellular phones, the Internet, and other new types

of technology that exit today provide a great deal of convenience for people.

Answers

Read and analyze the following paragraph, and answerthese questions:

1. What two things does the paragraph talk about?The paragraph talks about cellular phones and the internet.

2. Is the paragraph mostly comparing or contrasting? Howdo you know?Comparing because of the phrases used: likewise, anotherconvenient quality of these, they both

Explanation and Example

SimilarlyLikewise

Tokyo is the financial heart of Japan.Similarly/Likewise, New York is the center ofbanking and finance in the United states.

Also Often appears in the middle or the end of thesentence.

Tokyo is a mayor financial center. New York is acenter of banking and finance also.

Tokyo is the financial heart of Japan. New Yorkis also a center of banking and finance.

Comparison Signals

Example

Too(and… too)

Usually comes at the end of the sentence. It oftenappears with the conjunction and.

Tokyo is a center of style and fashion; New Yorkis too.

Tokyo is a center of style and fashion, and NewYork is too.

AsJust as

It begins a dependent clause. Notice that you use acomma.

Tokyo is trendy and hip, as New York is.

Tokyo is trendy and hip, just as New York is.

Example

SimilarEqual

The same

These words act like adjectives. They describe nouns.

Tokyo and New York have similar/equal/thesame traffic problems.

Tokyo and New York’s traffic problems aresimilar/equal/the same.

Similar toEqual to(just) like

The same as

These words act like prepositions. They come in frontof nouns.

Tokyo’s traffic is similar to/(just) like/the sameas New York’s.

Like New York, Tokyo has traffic problems.Equally It is an adverb. It describes an adjective. An adverb

can also describe a verb or another adverb.

Tokyo and New York are equally crowded.

Example

Both… and…not only… but

also

These are paired conjunctions. They are always usedtogether.

*The two cities are both trend and hip.

*The two cities are not only tend but also hip.

*Notice that the word that comes after the secondconjunction in the pairs above must be the same partof speech (noun, verb, prepositional phrase, etc) asthe word that comes first. This is an important rule inEnglish called: Parallelism.

Parallelism is a very important rule in English.

Right Wrong The two cities are bothnoisy (adjective) andcrowded (adjective).

The two cities are bothnoisy (adjective) andhave two many people(verb phrase).

You can see joggers notonly in Central Park butalso in Hibuya Park.(prepositional phrases)

You can see joggers notonly in Central Park(prepositional phrase) butalso Hibuya Park (noun).