Compare Contrast Passages

When you CONTRAST things, you show their differences.

• true

• false

Sometimes a writing prompt may not contain the words “compare and contrast.” However, it may still be asking you to analyze how things are similar and different. Read the following writing prompts. Which one is most likely asking you to compare and contrast?

• Would you rather meet Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King, Jr.? Why?

• Summarize the article about Abe Lincoln.

• MLK was a great man.

Read the following passages. Ballet began as a social dance. That means that it started as a way for people to spend time with one another and connect, not perform for an audience. Some of the first ballet dancers were upper-class French people who lived in the 1500s and who danced ballets to entertain themselves and their friends. Salsa is a type of dance that began in New York City in the 1970s. Salsa began as a social dance. Salsa comes from some Cuban dances like the cha-cha and also uses movements from Afro-Caribbean dances. Salsa is danced to Salsa music. According to the texts above, Ballet and Salsa dances are similar because

• they are both danced only by upper class French people.

• they both began as social dances.

• they are both styles of dance that began in the 1500s.

What does contrast mean?

• Describing the differences between two or more things.

• Describing the same between two or more things.

• comparing

• studying

How are the two passages different?

How is "Secrets of a Frigid World" different than "Drawing Under ice?"

• The first passage is about how the artist gets ready for a dive.

• The passage "Secrets of a Frigid World" is told in third person and is a secondary source.

• The passage "Secrets of a Frigid World" is told from a firsthand account and is a primary source.

• "Secrets of a Frigid World" is about Antarctica and "Drawing Under Ice" is only about drawing.

How does Passage A differ from Passage B?

• Passage A is talking about the equator.

• Passage A is factual, and Passage B is someone's opinion

• Passage A is less formal than Passage B.

• Passage B is talking about how warm the equator is.

What is the most important way that Passage 1 and Passage 2 differ in their portrayals of being in a new place?

• The stories occur during different time periods.

• The stories take place in different locations.

• The narrators react differently to meeting new neighbors.

• The narrators in the stories listen to different types of music.

Compare means to examine two or more things for​ (a)   ​

• similarities

• contrast

• personification

• differences

How does Passage A differ from Passage B?

• Passage A is talking about the equator.

• Passage A is factual, and Passage B is someone's opinion

• Passage A is less formal than Passage B.

• Passage B is talking about how warm the equator is.

Answer explanation

Passage A is factual, and Passage B is someone's opinion