CLASS MATERIAL

WEEK 2

CEL2103 WRITING ACADEMIC TEXT

SEMESTER 1, 2021-2022

Introduction to Comparison and Contrast Essay

 Pre-writing
- Generating topic
- Identifying points of comparison
 Language:
- Writing style of an academic essay

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 Pre-writing: Generating a Topic for Compare and Contrast Essay

Topics for compare and contrast essays can involve variety of themes. You can compare
ideas, events, people, different times in history, objects and many more.

Activity 1
What are the features of a good topic for compare and contrast essay?
a. ______________________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________________
c. ______________________________________________________________________

Activity 2
Decide whether the subjects for the topics below can be compared (YES/NO). Rewrite the
topics to ensure only subjects that can be compared are included.

Yes/
No Topic New Topic
No
1 Similarities and differences of two
English tests: MUET and TOEFL
2 A comparison of government systems
between Malaysia and Thailand
3 Leonardo da Vinci vs Titanic: A
comparison
4 Comparing the environment of
schools and colleges
5 Comparing the effects of World War I
and World War II
6 Comparing and contrasting the
causes of earthquakes and noise
pollution
7 Comparing oranges and apples
8 A comparison of health benefits of
Red Delicious and Granny Smith
apples
9 Differences and similarities of lifestyle

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 in Spain and New York
10 A comparison of online learning and
face-to-face learning
11 Similarity and difference of Android
mobile devices and Samsung
handphones
12 Comparing and contrasting living in
urban areas and living with parents

Activity 3
Write the suitable subjects based on the given theme and topic. The subjects must belong to
the same category and they can be compared.

1. Theme : Cultures
Topic : Comparing and contrasting the working culture of two countries
Subjects :

2. Theme : Events
Topic : Similarities and differences between two international sporting
events
Subjects :

3. Theme : Travel destinations

Topic : A comparison of two different popular travel destinations
Subjects :

Activity 4

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Write a possible topic and subjects of a compare and contrast essay based on the given
theme.

Theme Topic Subjects

Lifestyle 1.
2.
Prominent 1.
figures 2.
Travel 1.
destinations 2.
Products 1.
2.

Pre-writing: Identifying Points of Comparison

Activity 5
What are points of comparison in a compare and contrast essay?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

Activity 6

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In a group of five, choose a topic from Activity 2 and complete the Venn Diagram below by
listing possible points that are similar and different. Present your Venn Diagram to the class.

Topic: _______________________________________________

Activity 7

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In the same group of five, based on the Venn Diagram in Activity 5, identify the points of
comparison for your topic. Complete the compare and contrast table below. Share your
answers with the class.

Topic: _______________________________________________
Point of Subject A: Subject B:
Comparison _______________ _______________
Supporting points: Supporting points:
Similarity a. a.

___________
b. b.

Supporting points: Supporting points:

Difference a. a.

___________
b. b.

Language: Writing Style of an Academic Essay

Activity 8
Rewrite the sentences below in an academic style of writing.

1. Regrettably these days lots of people don’t have jobs.

______________________________________________________________________

2. You can’t always trust the numbers in the report.

______________________________________________________________________

3. Sadly, the bad inflation led to poverty, social unrest and so on.
______________________________________________________________________

4. What were the main causes of the Russian Revolution?

______________________________________________________________________
Language: The Use of Caution

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Activity 9
Rewrite the sentences to include caution by using the stated way.

1. Include caution by using a modifier

The company’s effort to save energy were successful.
______________________________________________________________________

2. Include caution by using a modal

Crime is related to poor education.
______________________________________________________________________

3. Include caution by using an adverbs

Vaccination does not only keep your child safe, but it could save other children’s lives.
______________________________________________________________________

4. Include caution by using a verb or verb phrase

There are plausible evidence that playing games not only change brain performance but
also brain structure.
______________________________________________________________________

Language: Sentence Variation

Activity 10
Rewrite the sentences below by combining multiple short sentences or breaking long and
complicated sentences.

1. Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne in 1952. This was when her father King George VI
died. He died of lung disease.
Method : Combining sentences
Revised sentence :

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2. Issues of gender, like those associated with race, are often highly complex especially in
contexts of human interaction, which are often unpredictable and also determined, to a
great extent, though not exclusively so, by emotional response, which makes people
react in unexpected and unplanned ways.
Method : Breaking sentences
Revised sentence :

3. Happiness level has remained static over the past 50 years in the Western world. This is
despite the huge increase in income. Britain and America are wealthy countries.
Method : Combining sentences
Revised sentence :

Activity 11
Read the paragraph below and write the paragraph by including sentence variation within
the paragraph.
Rosa Parks is a famous African-American woman. She is often called “the mother
of the civil rights movement”. She became famous quite by accident. One day in 1955,
she was on her way home from her job in a Montgomery, Alabama, department store. She
boarded a city bus with three other African-Americans. They sat in the fifth row. The fifth
row was the first row African Americans were allowed to sit in. A few stops later, the front
four rows filled up, a white man left standing. The driver then asked Parks and three other
African-Americans to get up and move. Parks refused. The other three complied. The bus
driver called the police. Parks was arrested.

Revised paragraph

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