Comparison

SBQ Skills
• Looking at two or more objects
and their features or
characteristics, and looking at
their similarities and
differences.

Comparison
No Match
• No criteria use for comparison
• E.g. Lisa is blonde while Ariana Grande wears necklaces.

Wrong types of comparison

False Match
• When criteria applies only to one of the object compared.
• E.g. Lisa has a microphone but Ariana Grande does not.

Wrong types of comparison

•A standard/a
reference point by
which something is
measured/compared.

Common Criteria
Difference
• Criteria: Hair colour
• E.g. Lisa has brown hair while Ariana Grande has black
hair.

Correct comparison
Similarity
• Criteria: Gender
• E.g. Both Lisa and Ariana Grande are female.

Correct comparison
 Types of Questions Required Answers
How similar are sources A and B? BOTH similarities & differences
How different are sources A and B?
To what extent are sources A and B
similar?
To what extent are sources A and B
different?

In what ways are sources A and B Differences

different?

In what ways are sources A and B Similarities

similar?

Types of Questions
Paragraph 1: Sources A and B are similar.
Similarity
Both agree about
___(criteria)___

Source A states that “evidence”.

This shows that
__(explanation)__.
Source B states that “evidence”.
This shows that
__(explanation)__.

How to answer?
Paragraph 2: Sources A and B are different.
Difference
Both disagree about
___(criteria)___. While A shows
__(inference)__, B shows
__(inference)__.

Source A states that “evidence”.

This shows that __(explanation)__.
Source B states that “evidence”.
This shows that __(explanation)__.

How to answer?
Source A
At that time, I had a friend in
Singapore who was also from the
Ann Kway district. He used to tell
me that living conditions and
other aspects of livelihood in
Singapore were good and that
being a driver in Singapore was
not bad. I came to Singapore
because of this notion of making
money and the encouragement of
my friend.
How similar are both sources?
Explain your answer.
Source B
The Ceylonese in Singapore were doing
very well, as they were drawing a very
fat salary. They could get their monthly
salary, they could brighten their future,
and they could enlighten other people.
They became teachers, doctors and
lawyers. They were mostly Ceylon
Tamils who knew it was better to go to
Singapore to better their prospects than
to become stagnant in Ceylon. They
influenced us with their views that you
should get a better job, and you get
better earnings here (in Singapore).
• Source A and B are similar as they both agree that early
Singapore had job opportunities for early migrants.
• This is evident from Source A as it states ‘being a driver
in Singapore was not bad’ and ‘. I came to Singapore
because of this notion of making money’.
• Similarly, it is evident in Source B that ‘They influenced
us with their views that you should get a better job, and
you get better earnings here (in Singapore)’.
• Therefore, both sources show that there are jobs available
for early migrants to take up to make a living.

Para 1: Similarity
• However, Source A and B are different in terms of the types of
jobs that people take up in early Singapore.
• Source A shows that there was blue collar job available while
Source B shows that there were white collar job available.
• This is evident from Source A as it states ‘that being a driver in
Singapore was not bad.’ This shows that there were manual
jobs such as drivers for the early migrant to take up.
• On the other hand, Source B states that ‘they became teachers,
doctors and lawyers.’ This shows that there were presence of
administrative jobs for early migrants to pick up.

Para 2: Difference