Compare & Contrast

Joe and Bob both like to eat ice cream. Compare or Contrast?

• compare

• contrast

Setting - How could two stories setting be alike?

• Both take place in the woods.

• One is in the city the other is in the ocean.

• They take place 100 years apart

What is the cue word in this sentence? Winter weather in St. George is similar to winter weather in Las Vegas.

• weather

• similar

• weather

What is an example of comparing

• Both fish are blue.

• Math is my favorite subject

• Whales are bigger than cats.

• I like pizza

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.

What does compare mean?

• Putting two or more things similarities together.

• Putting two or more things differences together

Compare or contrast? I like cats and dogs.

• compare

• contrast

• both

• neither

What does contrast mean?

• Describing the differences between two or more things.

• Describing the same between two or more things.

• comparing

• studying

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.

Compare or contrast? Dogs and cats both have tails.

• compare

• contrast