Comparative Writing - Lesson #1

Comparative Writing

Semester 2, School Year 2023-24

Draw

How are you feeling today? Draw your emotions.

Open Ended

What do you know or think you may know about Comparative Writing?

Purpose of the comparative essay

• The fundamental purpose of a comparative essay is to elaborate the similarities and differences between two things in a systematic manner.

• An effective comparative essay will leave the reader with much greater clarity about the natures and properties of the things that have been compared.

• This could potentially serve as a basis for making a decision in favor of one or the other thing.

  
  

  
  

  
  

Purpose of the Comparative Essay

A comparative essay is different from, for example, an argumentative essay in that the comparative essay does not make a case for either of the two things under comparison. Rather, the point is to simply set up the comparison so that the reader will have as much information about the two things as possible.

Labelling

Try to label the correct details about the two different essays

Drag labels to their correct position on the image

Both Republicans & Democrats have cons

Objective, third-person

To make a clear case for a position on a

Republicans are bad, vote Democrats.

Objective, first-person or third-person

To highlight the similarities and differ

Why are comparative essays important?

The comparative essay is an important form of document because when you have to make a decision or choose a side in an argument, you will want to know as much as possible about the two options under consideration—and a good comparative essay on the subject can bring out both the similarities and the differences between the options, thereby clarifying the stakes at play.

For example, a comparative essay could address the similarities and differences between any of the following pairs:

• The Republican Party and the Democratic Party

• Jason Aseli and Edrick Laos

• The Big Bang and creationism

• The Light or Dark side of the Force from Star Wars

• The revolutionary and the reformist perspectives on social change

Open Ended

How are you feeling so far?

Open Ended

What type of planning can you think of that one might use to help with comparing two things?

Structure of Comparative Essay - Example 1

Comparative Essay Organization - Example #2

How to Write a Great Comparative Essay

Ask yourself about your intention

If you have selected two items for your comparative essay, then you should start by asking yourself why you selected those two items. What is it about the two items that made you think it would be a good idea to compare them?

Home

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Multiple Select

Which phrases would you use to show similarities?

• similarly

• likewise

• in contrast

• unlike

Multiple Select

Which phrases would you use to highlight differences?

• in contrast

• both

• on the other hand

• additionally

Open Ended

Now share some thoughts about what you just learned about comparative writing