what does bias have to do with comparison and contrast?

Comparison and Contrasting in an Essay | Tips & Examples

Published on Baronial vi, 2020 by Jack Caulfield. Revised on Dec half-dozen, 2021.

Comparison and contrasting is an of import skill in academic writing. Information technology involves taking two or more subjects and analyzing the differences and similarities between them.

Yous might find yourself comparing all kinds of things in an academic essay: historical figures, literary works, policies, enquiry methods, etc. Doing and so is an important part of constructing arguments.

When should I compare and dissimilarity?

Many assignments volition invite y'all to make comparisons quite explicitly, as in these prompts.

Compare-and-dissimilarity prompts

• Compare the handling of the theme of beauty in the poetry of William Wordsworth and John Keats.
• Compare and contrast in-class and distance learning. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?

Another prompts may not directly inquire you lot to compare and contrast, merely present you with a topic where comparing and contrasting could exist a good arroyo.

General prompt

Discuss the effects of the Great Depression in the United States.

One fashion to arroyo this essay might exist to contrast the situation earlier the Dandy Low with the state of affairs during it, to highlight how big a deviation information technology fabricated.

Comparing and contrasting is also used in all kinds of academic contexts where it'south not explicitly prompted. For example, a literature review involves comparing and contrasting unlike studies on your topic, and an belligerent essay may involve weighing up the pros and cons of different arguments.

Making effective comparisons

Every bit the name suggests, comparing and contrasting is nigh identifying both similarities and differences. You might focus on contrasting quite different subjects or comparing subjects with a lot in common—but there must be some grounds for comparison in the start place.

For case, you might contrast French society before and later on the French Revolution; you'd likely notice many differences, simply there would be a valid ground for comparison. However, if yous contrasted pre-revolutionary France with Han-dynasty China, your reader might wonder why yous chose to compare these two societies.

This is why information technology's important to analyze the point of your comparisons past writing a focused thesis argument. Every element of an essay should serve your central statement in some way. Consider what yous're trying to accomplish with any comparisons you make, and exist certain to brand this clear to the reader.

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Comparing and contrasting can be a useful tool to aid organize your thoughts before you begin writing whatever blazon of academic text. You lot might use it to compare different theories and approaches you've encountered in your preliminary research, for example.

Let's say your research involves the competing psychological approaches of behaviorism and cognitive psychology. Yous might make a tabular array to summarize the primal differences between them.

Behaviorism	Cerebral psychology
Dominant from the 1920s to the 1950s	Rose to prominence in the 1960s
Mental processes cannot exist empirically studied	Mental processes equally focus of written report
Focuses on how thinking is affected by conditioning and environment	Focuses on the cognitive processes themselves

Or say you're writing about the major global conflicts of the twentieth century. You might visualize the cardinal similarities and differences in a Venn diagram.

These visualizations wouldn't make it into your actual writing, so they don't have to be very formal in terms of phrasing or presentation. The point of comparing and contrasting at this stage is to help you organize and shape your ideas to aid you lot in structuring your arguments.

Structuring your comparisons

When comparing and contrasting in an essay, there are ii principal means to construction your comparisons: the alternate method and the block method.

The alternating method

In the alternating method, you structure your text according to what aspect y'all're comparison. You cover both your subjects side by side in terms of a specific point of comparison. Your text is structured like this:

• Indicate of comparison A
  • Subject field ane
  • Subject 2
• Point of comparison B
  • Subject 1
  • Subject area 2

Mouse over the case paragraph below to see how this approach works.

Alternating method example

One challenge teachers face is identifying and profitable students who are struggling without disrupting the residue of the form. In a traditional classroom surroundings, the teacher can easily place when a pupil is struggling based on their demeanor in class or just by regularly checking on students during exercises. They can and then offering assistance quietly during the do or talk over it further later class. Meanwhile, in a Zoom-based form, the lack of concrete presence makes information technology more hard to pay attention to private students' responses and observe frustrations, and there is less flexibility to speak with students privately to offer assistance. In this case, therefore, the traditional classroom surround holds the reward, although it appears likely that aiding students in a virtual classroom environs will become easier as the engineering, and teachers' familiarity with it, improves.

The block method

In the block method, y'all embrace each of the overall subjects you lot're comparing in a block. You say everything you have to say near your showtime discipline, then talk over your second subject, making comparisons and contrasts back to the things you've already said about the first. Your text is structured similar this:

• Subject field 1
  • Point of comparison A
  • Point of comparison B
• Field of study two
  • Indicate of comparison A
  • Point of comparison B

Mouse over the example paragraph below to see how this approach works.

Block method example

The most commonly cited advantage of distance learning is the flexibility and accessibility information technology offers. Rather than being required to travel to a specific location every week (and to alive well-nigh enough to feasibly do then), students can participate from anywhere with an internet connection. This allows not merely for a wider geographical spread of students just for the possibility of studying while travelling. Yet, distance learning presents its ain accessibility challenges; not all students have a stable cyberspace connection and a computer or other device with which to participate in online classes, and less technologically literate students and teachers may struggle with the technical aspects of form participation. Furthermore, discomfort and distractions can hinder an individual student'southward ability to engage with the grade from abode, creating divergent learning experiences for different students. Distance learning, then, seems to amend accessibility in some means while representing a step backwards in others.

Notation that these two methods tin exist combined; these two example paragraphs could both be part of the same essay, simply it's wise to utilise an essay outline to program out which approach y'all're taking in each paragraph.

Frequently asked questions about comparing and contrasting

How do I choose subjects to compare and dissimilarity?

Your subjects might exist very different or quite like, but it'due south important that in that location exist meaningful grounds for comparison. You lot can probably depict many differences between a cat and a cycle, just there isn't really any connection between them to justify the comparing.

You'll have to write a thesis statement explaining the central point y'all want to make in your essay, so be sure to know in advance what connects your subjects and makes them worth comparing.

How do I compare and contrast in a structured way?

Comparisons in essays are generally structured in one of two ways:

• The alternating method, where yous compare your subjects adjacent co-ordinate to one specific aspect at a time.
• The block method, where you lot cover each subject separately in its entirety.

It'south too possible to combine both methods, for example past writing a full paragraph on each of your topics then a last paragraph contrasting the two according to a specific metric.

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