Comparative thinking is one of our first and most natural forms of thought.

Without the ability to

make comparisons—to set one object or idea against another and take note of similarities and
differences—much of what we call learning would quite literally be impossible.
Compare and contrast the contents of the materials viewed with outside sources of information in
terms of accessibility and effectiveness.

To contrast something is to look for differences among two or more elements, but compare is

to do the opposite, to look for similarities.

It's easy to tell the difference if you remember that contrast comes from the Latin
root contra, means "against." Contrast is also a noun meaning basically the same thing.

The key to a good compare and contrast is to choose two or more subjects that connect in a
meaningful way. The purpose of conducting the comparison or contrast is not to state the obvious but
rather to illuminate subtle differences or unexpected similarities.

Comparing and contrasting information from multiple sources allows you to get a
comprehensive grasp of a topic. It is also important to compare and contrast ideas found in
multiple sources enable for you to identify conflicting information and consistent information
and critically evaluate sources.
By focusing your thinking on ideas, it develops and improves your comprehension by
highlighting important details, making abstract ideas more concrete and reducing the
confusion between related concepts.

What is unsupported generalization and exaggeration?

Unsupported generalization occurs when you come up to a conclusion but with
incomplete or no data. For example, you say that “Women are poor drivers.” just because you
watched a news report that a woman drives recklessly on the road because of diarrhea. The
sample size was not enough to support your assertion. This argument is not based on anything
statistically significant. 
On the other hand, exaggeration is a statement that makes something worse, or better,
than it really is. It is the use of additional causative agents into the mix when it is not needed.
An example is when you say: “Joining a sweepstakes will make you an instant
millionaire!” It is impossible for everybody joining a sweepstakes or raffle to win. Only few
people win in raffle draws. 
Unsupported generalization and exaggerations are information or ideas that are
based on nothing. They give baseless details and it can lead readers and listeners to the wrong
idea, thus these ideas are useless. These will be helpful if they are supported by additional
information. Check first for accuracy and truthfulness.
Tip:
All, none, most, many, always, often, everyone, never, sometimes, some, usually,
seldom, few, generally, overall, as a general rule, are words that signal generalization
statements
The Text Content, Elements, Features and Properties
You should have to learn varied reasons why stories are easily to be understood especially
when you are told to evaluate the reading or learners’ material. It is also narrated in this
lesson the significance of the resources for you to consider in maximizing your time when
you do research about a specific topic. With this idea, you will strengthen your personal
views and interpretations by the help of such textual aids. 
There are tips to learn how to evaluate the text content, elements, features and properties
by using a set of criteria or standard in the level of understanding and comprehension towards
the said material. A certain writer pointed out the guide that helps you learn how to evaluate
all types of resources to know whether or not they would be good to use in your research
appearing in the text materials.
Author
In every reading endeavor, the author’s background and related information are needed to
be identified. This perhaps makes a guiding principle how a certain selection or story had
been written.  Most of the time, there is a connection how the story was developed and
created. It includes behavior of the writer and experiences along the way that he or she was
constructing connected events in the course of the story. In some other facets of information
relative to the author’s information, this may be learned by looking at the acknowledgements
and preface of the books.
Publisher
The information that you wanted to know about the author, the same stand you will ask
about the publisher.  This may be parallel to those things you would ask about the writer. The
first few pages of the book mostly seen are the copyright and the publisher information. In
this part, you will be able to know who published the book. In this regard, you can be
comparatively sure that if a certain press or university press published the book, it has been
held to a high academic standard.
Printing press or those popular presses differ in their standards. You may have to look at
other aspects of the book or look at other books produced by the same publisher to judge the
credibility of the text. Remember, you are not looking for ways to exclude works. Rather, you
are trying to understand the context in which the book was written so you can better analyze
its content.

Date of Publication
Nowadays, research is commonly used and applied to educational arena where students
have to practice responsibility in the field gathering data and information. If you are
researching a current issue, it stands to reason that you want the most up-to-date sources you
can find. If your topic is not so current, it is often acceptable to go back other older books for
your sources. Date of Publication portrays a vital role in giving insights some credible,
reliable, timely and accurate data and information. If there is a more recent book on the same
topic, make sure that you look at it. Maybe the author found new evidence that significantly
modifies the argument of the first book.
To determine the age of a work is suggested, but sometimes it can be easy to determine,
but it is complicated. The page that has the entire publisher’s information has a copyright
date. It is also needed to recognize if there are new translations or versions of the work
published. If the work is being translated, so, that date is probably the date of the translation.
There are more than one dates listed on the page. In that case, you probably have a newer
edition that may have new information added.
Following the Trail
Finally, once you are now in the step in research, you come up with a topic and go to the
library to find sources. You try to find more books and through the critical analysis, you may
appreciate the text because it fits all the criteria. This is now the time to begin tracing your
topic by looking at the footnotes and bibliography. If you can see this in the text, a certain
material encompasses deluge of information.
It is said that, titles that the author relies on or refers to as pillars of the discipline. Then
find those books or articles in the library catalog and begin the critical analysis process all
over again. Following the trail from one book or article to others can lead to an understanding
of the entire structure of the literature on a particular topic.

Different Text Features of Non-fiction and Textual Aids

Text Features

Title Page = the beginning page that tells the name of the book, who wrote it, and who
published it, as what has seen at the cover page.

  Title Page
Source: Celebrating Diversity through World Literature G10 textbook

Table of Contents = the list of the parts of a book with their starting page numbers, usually headed
simply Contents and abbreviated informally as TOC. It is a list, typically found on a page
before the start of a written work, of its chapter or section titles or brief descriptions with
their commencing page numbers.

Source: https://helpx.adobe.com/si/indesign/using/creating-table-contents.html

Index = a list of important topics in the book with their page numbers. Entries are arranged in
alphabetical order. An index is essentially a roadmap to the book, listing names, places, and
things in alphabetical order and giving the page numbers associated with each topic. For
nonfiction books, filled with valuable information, a well-made index can help quickly direct
the reader to the information they're trying to locate.

Source: https://www.pdfindexgenerator.com/what-is-a-book-index/

               Source: https://www.prismnet.com/~hcexres/textbook/indexing.html

Glossary = a list of the important words in a book with their meanings. This is an
alphabetical list of terms or words found in or concerning to a specific subject, text, or
dialect, with explanations; a brief dictionary.

Source: Celebrating Diversity through World Literature G10 textbook

Subtitle = refers to the title of a chapter or major section.

Source: https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/how-to-add-subtitle-for-posts-and-pages-in-wordpress/
 

Heading = the title of a page or section that tells what the reader will be reading about.
Source: https://www.k12reader.com/worksheet/20-nonfiction-text-features-posters/view/
Subheading = the title of a page or section that tells what the reader will be reading about.

                                  Sub-head
Source: https://www.k12reader.com/worksheet/20-nonfiction-text-features-posters/view/

Timeline = a line that shows the order that events happened in time. This is a display of a
register of events in chronological order. It is characteristically a graphic design showing a
long bar labeled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events.

Source: https://www.business2community.com/strategy/the-ultimate-guide-to-creating-a-project-timeline-02261532 
     Source: https://slideplayer.com/slide/6008986/

Illustrations and Photographs = pictures that show how something looks: Illustrations are
drawings while photographs are made with a camera.
                   
           Illustration   Photograph
Source: https://photojeepers.com/yellowstone-waterfalls-see-photograph/

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illustration#/media/File:Alice_par_John_Tenniel_02.png

Captions = refer to a phrase, sentence, or short paragraph that describes a picture.

Source: https://www.onceinalifetimejourney.com/inspiration/best-inspirational-quotes-instagram-bio/

Diagrams = pictures that show the parts of something or how something works. This is a
symbolic representation of information using visualization techniques.
Source: https://arbs.nzcer.org.nz/venn-diagrams
 
Labels = words that identify the parts of a drawing or photograph.

Source: https://www.labelvalue.com/blog/label-information/film-labels-vs-paper-labels/

      Source: https://www.pinterest.ph/pin/29977153739215716/ 

Map = a drawing of an area; like land, oceans or countries, that helps the reader understand
where something happens.

Source: https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/map-of-greece-vector-1241485
Charts and Graphs = refer to drawings that explain information.
                       
 Chart                                              
Source: https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=569&section=6
 

Graph
Source: https://www.splashlearn.com/math-vocabulary/geometry/graph

Bullets = small symbols at the beginning of lines to show a list.

Source: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/word-2007-the/059652739X/ch04.html

Icon = a small picture that signals important information or action.

Source: https://www.k12reader.com/worksheet/20-nonfiction-text-features-posters/view/

Icon                       icon                

Source: Celebrating Diversity through World Literature G10 textbook

Text Box = a separate box of text that tells interesting or important facts.

              Text Box
    Tex Box    Source: Celebrating Diversity through World Literature G10 textbook

 
Keywords = important words about the topic that stand out on the page, either in color,
boldface or italic.
  keyword

Source: https://www.k12reader.com/worksheet/20-nonfiction-text-features-posters/view/

Guide Words = words at the top of the page that tell the first and the last topic on the page.
          Source: https://www.k12reader.com/worksheet/20-nonfiction-text-features-posters/view/

Source: https://minds-in-bloom.com/nonfiction-text-features-books-and-lesson-ideas/

 Text features also assists readers decide what is essential to the text and to them. Lacking of
a table of contents or an index, readers can spend exhausted time flipping through the book to
find the information they need. Special print helps draw the attention of the reader to
important or key words and phrases. These help you locate significant information in a text.
Knowing the purpose of the text feature helps you decide at which text feature to look when
you want to understand your text better. They are organized by purpose, the chart
identifies text features and how they help the reader. Text features include all the components
of a story or article that are not the main body of text like the table of contents, index,
glossary, headings, bold words, sidebars, pictures and captions, and labeled diagrams. A well-
organized text assists the reader through predictable placement of information.

Basic Approaches and Criteria in Evaluating the Texts

Listen and read the other significant reason for reading texts is to evaluate them.
Usually, evaluating texts is a mostly subjective task, which relies on a person’s personal
experiences, biases, and personal feelings about the text/topic. Oftentimes, evaluations
converse how the author/writer likes or dislikes something. Unlike summaries, which attempt
to be unbiased, an evaluation allows the writer to inform the audience about good or bad
qualities of a text or other medium being evaluated.
 Example: In the media, professional evaluators are everywhere, whether they are film
critics, literary critics, political commentators, comedians, talk-show hosts, or even the
writers themselves. In college, the task of evaluating texts, films, and products and services,
is no foreign affair. Many professors require students to evaluator (or review) a number of
different things in order to familiarize themselves with different texts in their discipline and
other materials.
  Even today, students when have assignment to research in most of their subjects
which required them to evaluate or review like different products at the department store and
compare them based on their price, product design, and chemical components. Some other
students were required a movie review of a foreign film for a cultural literacy course. 
The question reverberates on how to evaluate texts and other materials.  Use the
following steps to introduce and discuss your text:

1) Read/View the text/material one time without interruption. 

2) Summarize the text/material 
3) List the good qualities/facets of the text 
4) List the not-so-good qualities/facets of the text
 5) Compare and contrast the text/material to other existing texts/material with similar
characteristics, if needed or applicable. Ask: How is it reminiscent, similar, or different to the
other texts/materials? 
6) Discuss your overall interpretation/feelings about the text/material.
 7) Comment on how the text is superior/inferior/better/worse compared to other
texts/materials in the same genre (or which are similar).