COMPARISON and CONTRAST

ESSAYS

Prof. Esp. Martha Larzábal

Language IV 2023
In our class today we are going to:

• Brainstorm about the usefulness of comparing and contrasting

• Learn about the two methods of organization - Plan A and Plan B in general
terms: how to differentiate one from the other.
• Analyze in detail these two patterns of organization: outlines and
developmental paragraphs
• Revise the connectors / linkers / transition words used to compare/contrast

• Analyze an authentic text

• 3
 Why is comparing and contrasting useful?

It is a way of organizing and presenting ideas

It is a method /mode of development

It’s purpose is to persuade , explain or inform

To make conclusions about advantages or disadvantages 3

 Why is comparing and contrasting useful?

Its purpose is to persuade, explain or inform.

It is a way of organizing and presenting ideas.

It is a method /mode of development.

To make conclusions about advantages or disadvantages. 4

How do we apply this concept of
comparing and contrasting
to Language IV?

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 The two patterns of organization of
comparison and contrast essays:
the all-about-one and all-about-the other
and
the point-by-point
patterns of organization and how to differentiate
one type of organization from the other

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Two patterns of organization:
Plan A: “All about one, all about the other” analysis
Plan B: “Point-by-point” analysis

*a convention used in many text books and composition books

What’s the same?

What’s different?

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Two patterns of organization: Plan A and Plan B

What’s the same? What’s different?

• introductory paragraph • outline

• thesis statement • topic sentences
• concluding paragraph • supporting items
• concluding sentence
• developmental paragraphs
• topic sentences
• rounding-off sentences
• similar transition words
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Two patterns of organization: Plan A and Plan B

What’s the same? What’s different?

• introductory paragraph • outline

• thesis statement • topic sentences
• concluding paragraph • supporting items
• concluding sentence
• developmental paragraphs
• topic sentences
• rounding-off sentences
• similar transition words
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Two patterns of organization: Plan A and Plan B

What’s the same? What’s different?

• introductory paragraph • outline

• thesis statement • topic sentences
• concluding paragraph • supporting items
• concluding sentence
• developmental paragraphs
• topic sentences
• rounding-off sentences
• similar transition words
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 Connectors/linkers/transition words

Phrases or clauses
X is similar to Y in that (they)...
Like X, Y also [verb]...
One way in which X is similar to Y is (that)...
Another way in which X is comparable to Y is that he/she…

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Connectors/linkers / transition words

Phrases or clauses
In a different manner
Unlike X, Y [verb]
X is different from Y in that [he/her]…
One way in which X and Y are different is that…
Another way in which they are different is that…
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Plan A: or “All about one /All about the other” pattern

In this method of organization, there will always be just two developmental

paragraphs.

In the first body paragraph, all the points/ideas about one

character/setting/situation are analyzed.

In the second body paragraph, the same points/ideas about the other
character/setting/situation will be compared or contrasted with the first one.
All the connectors that signal comparison / contrast will be used in the second
paragraph.

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Plan B: or “Point-by-point” pattern

There will be as many paragraphs as points to compare or contrast.

Each of the points/ideas about one character /setting /situation and the other
will be compared or contrasted in different paragraphs.

In this pattern, the comparison or the contrast is made in the second half of the
developmental paragraph; so all the connectors that signal comparison /
contrast will appear there.

This pattern is more useful when comparing/contrasting three or more points.

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Let’s work with Montag, the main male character

from the novel Fahrenheit 451.

Light after Darkness

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PLAN A Contrast Montag’s life before and after meeting Clarisse

Montag´s professional and personal life differed significantly before and after
meeting Clarisse McClellan.

A. Before meeting Clarisse, Montag was completely ignorant of the truth of his
professional life and his personal life.
1. His ignorance of the true history of his job and the importance of books
2. His unawareness of his poor relationship with his wife and his failed marriage

B. However, after meeting Clarisse, Montag acquired true knowledge of the truth of his
professional life and his personal life.

1. His knowledge of the true history of his job and the importance of books

2. His keen awareness of his poor relationship and his failed marriage 16
Before meeting Clarisse, Montag was completely ignorant of the truth of his professional life and his personal
life. To start with, Montag was completely ignorant of the true history of firemen and the importance of books.
Montag was convinced that firemen had always started fires as his job consisted in burning the houses of people
who kept books. He was extremely proud of his job, and for him the kerosene they used to light fires was like
perfume. As he lived in a society where books were forbidden, he took for granted the story that fireman were
the heroes of society. Montag’s ignorance regarding his profession is depicted by his reading in “the rulebook” of
the fire station, and believing the brief history of the Firemen of America that explained that this organization
had been established in 1790 and that Benjamin Franklin had been the First Fireman. Also, before meeting
Clarisse, Montag’s pride in his job did not let him see that there might be something in books. Being a fireman
was a highly prestigious profession so Montag obeyed his orders to burn books and never questioned the value
of them. Montag’s unawareness of the importance of books is clearly exemplified in how he had been
brainwashed by the government’s system of getting rid of all the books that were left and severely punishing
anyone that went against the law. Clearly, the government did not want people to read books so that
they remained ignorant. In addition to the lack of knowledge Montag had regarding his job before meeting
Clarisse, he was also unaware of his poor relationship with his wife and his failed marriage. Montag thought he
was happy with his wife, Mildred. In fact, he truly believed in his marriage because he and his wife conformed to
the society just like everybody else. But he had “worn his happiness like a mask”, as if he were unconsciously
hiding behind a disguise of a happily married man. Their lives were superficial; they did not have any children
and therefore no activities to share together. Montag had no responsibility other than working, and Mildred was
completely satisfied with her life of leisure as she spent most of her days watching TV in a room with three walls
covered with huge screens, and her greatest desire in life was to have a forth one. An example of Montag’s
unawareness of his failed marriage was his blindness to see the monotonous life he was leading with a woman
he had nothing in common with. To sum up, Montag showed a noticeable lack of awareness of the veracity 17
regarding his professional and personal life before meeting Clarisse.
However, after meeting Clarisse, Montag learned the truth about firemen and became eager to know what
was in books. Unlike the time when he was blind and trusted in everything he was made to believe, he was now
aware of the truth about firemen. After his first encounters with Clarisse and her probing questions, Montag
now doubted everything he had been so proud of regarding his job. Contrary to what he believed in, he came to
realize that he had lived in a world of lies. Montag’s awareness is evident when he learned that long before,
firemen had put fires out instead of starting them. Also, in contrast to the indifference he had felt towards
books before meeting Clarisse, after meeting Clarisse Montag recognized that there might be something in
books that was worth considering. When Clarisse asked him if he had ever read any of the books that he burnt,
Montag impulsively answered that it was against the law. From that moment on, Montag could never get
Clarisse’s question out of his mind, and he wanted to know what was in books that would make people prefer to
lose their lives rather than live without their books. Montag’s dangerous interest to know more about books is
evidenced when he dared to read the books he secretly kept in his house instead of burning them. In addition,
contrary to his obliviousness of the kind of relationship Montag had with his wife before meeting Clarisse,
Montag became keenly aware of his empty life and loveless marriage after meeting Clarisse. Unlike the time
when Montag thought he was happy and in love with his wife, he now realized that it was all a charade. It all
started with what seemed a simple and innocent game. When Clarisse rubbed a dandelion on Montag´s chin to
test whether he was in love or not, and it did not stay, Montag was supposedly not in love. In spite of his first
denial and anger at the result of the test, he came to realize that he was not in love with his wife. He was
shocked to admit that he could not remember when or where he had met his wife. An example of the broken
relationship he had with his wife is depicted the night he went back home after his first encounter with Clarisse
and found Mildred unconscious in bed due to an overdose of sleeping pills, which she later denied to have taken.
He realized there was something terribly wrong with his wife and was finally able to acknowledge their failed
marriage. All in all, Montag´s professional and personal life was characterized by striking transformations after
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meeting Clarisse.
Let’s practice: Transform

Plan A Outline
into a

Plan B outline

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PLAN A Contrast Montag’s life before and after meeting Clarisse

Montag´s professional and personal life differed significantly before and after
meeting Clarisse McClellan.

A. Before meeting Clarisse, Montag was completely ignorant of the truth of his
professional life and his personal life.
1. His ignorance of the true history of his job and the importance of books
2. His unawareness of his poor relationship with his wife and his failed marriage

B. However, after meeting Clarisse, Montag acquired true knowledge of the truth of his
professional life and his personal life.

1. His knowledge of the true history of his job and the importance of books

2. His keen awareness of his poor relationship and his failed marriage 20
PLAN B
Montag´s professional and personal life differed significantly before and after
meeting Clarisse McClellan.

A. Montag’s professional life differed significantly before and after meeting Clarisse
McClellan.
1. His ignorance of the true history of firemen and his indifference towards the
importance of books before meeting Clarisse
2. His true knowledge of the history of firemen and his eagerness to know about books
after meeting Clarisse

B. Not only did Montag´s professional life differ before and after meeting Clarisse, but
also his personal life.
1. His unawareness of his poor relationship with his wife and his failed marriage
before meeting Clarisse
2. His keen awareness of his poor relationship with his wife and his failed marriage
after meeting Clarisse 21
 Bibliographical references:

Wyrick, Jean. Steps to Writing Well. Fort Worth: Harcourt, 1993.

Smalley, Regina and Mary Ruetten. Refining Composition Skills. Heinle & Heinle, 1995.

Reid, Joy M. The Process of Composition. Addison Wesley Longman, 2000

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