Module 6: Comparison and Contrast

Posted By: Vivian D. Peremacio

Sources:1. http://www.mhhe.com/mayfieldpub/tsw/pd-cxc.htm

                2.  http://www.eslbee.com/compcont.htm

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Comparison and Contrast

Use comparison and contrast to develop a topic by examining its similarities or dissimilarities to another thing, process, or state. Comparison emphasizes the similarities, contrast the differences. A paragraph may use both comparison and contrast. In the following example, two kinds of electrical cable are compared. The aim here is to convey the superiority of A over B for two categories of performance. 

How to Write an Effective Comparison or Contrast Essay:

1. Know what organizational style you are using.  Whether you use the block arrangement or point-by-point arrangement, you should be able to identify it.  Being able to identify your organization will not only help you in the organization of your own writing, but it will also help your reader follow the points you make.

2.  State your organization.  Remember the "straight line of development" that was discussed in the introduction requires that you "tell your audience what you are going to tell them; then tell them; then tell them what you told them."  An important objective in academic writing is clarity, and stating your organization always contributes to clarity.  Err on the side of clarity!

3. Keep your audience in mind.  Be sure your reader can relate to your topic.  After you finish writing, read your essay from the perspective of your audience.  How will they respond to your ideas?  Will they understand what you have written?  Will they agree with your main point?  Will the support appear logical to them?

4. Say what you want to say.  Write like Robert Persig did in his book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  In your essay, make your preference clear as Persig did when he contrasted the difference between vacationing by car or motorcycle.

Finally, to further clarify how it would be possible to say what you want to say in your writing, consider which of the following options would YOU prefer, and why?  To support your point in each essay, what characteristics would you choose to contrast, and what support would you use?  Can you think of any other topics that might be fun to contrast?  

EXAMPLE #1:

Coaxial vs. Fiber-Optic Cable: Comparative Cable-Length Performances

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          For a number of critical performance characteristics, fiber-optic cable offers considerable advantages over standard coaxial cables. The most obvious distinction between the two is the great bandwidth-distance capacity of fibers. The high-frequency capacity of coaxial cables decreases rapidly with increased length, but the bandwidth of a commercial fiber-optic system will remain constant with length. A commercial fiber-optic system like that of Artel, as shown in Figure 3, remains constant for a bandwidth over a distance of 4,000 ft, while three different sizes of coaxial cable rapidly drop in less than half the distance.

          For RG-179 coax, a 1,024 × 1,024 signal is limited to 50 ft; RG-59 rolls off 3 dB at 170 ft. Larger, bulkier cables such as RG-11 can reach up to 250 ft, but are impractical to install, since three such cables are required for RGB color. Fiber-optic cable, on the other hand, allows transmission of more than 60 MHz video clock over a mile, and 20 MHz over 2½ miles,with no repeaters or equalizers.

          Noise interference is another important area in which performance differs greatly. Coaxial cables are susceptible to induced interference (EMI/RFI) from such noise generators as fluorescentlights, computers, power cables, industrial equipment, and even other communications cables. Cable frequency equalization further aggravates this noise problem. Fiber-optic cable is, incontrast, immune to all forms of EMI, RFI, and crosstalk.

--Artel Communications Corporation, "Fiber Optics in RGB Color Computer GraphicsCommunications," Application Note CG-1

Confirmation of Learning:

          Write an essay comparing the Filipino Culture to the European Culture......