Rhetorical Functions in Academic Writing: Comparison and contrast

When you are writing, you need to do much more than just give information. You should always be trying to do something with your writing. One common function in academic writing is comparing and contrasting, writing about similarities and differences. There are many ways of expressing comparison and contrast in English.

Example
Look at the following table and read the text below. Pay attention to the comparisons and contasts. Price Processor Speed Screen Size Hard Disk RAM 17" 19" 19" 17" 40 GB 40 GB 57 GB 38.1 GB 256 MB 256 MB 256 MB 128 MB

Evesham Axis 1.33 SK 1,174 1.33 GHz Armani R850 P4. Mesh Elite 1.7GT Pro Elonex WebRider Pro 2,467 1.7 GHz 1,938 1.7 GHz 1,174 1.2 GHz

Three personal computers, the Evesham Axis 1.33 SK, the Armani R850 P4 and the Mesh Elite 1.7 GT Pro, were compared with respect to the following factors: price, processor speed and size of hard disk. The Evesham Axis, which costs 1,174, is by far the cheapest of the three, the Armani and the Mesh Elite costing 2,467 and 1,938 respectively. The Evesham Axis has the same hard disk size as the Armani, 40 MB, whereas the Mesh Elite is the largest at 57 GB. Regarding the processor speed, the Armani and the Mesh Elite are similar - the processor speed, at 1.7 GHz, being 0.37 GHz faster than the Evesham Axis.

Other examples are: In the 19th century, two widely differing schools of socialist thought emerged, the Utopian Socialists and the Marxians. The first group believed that public ownership of the means of production was a necessary goal for human happiness. However, they wanted to reach it gradually and peacefully, using democratic methods to make changes through the government. They believed in ballots, rather than bullets. They also felt that owners who had mines, factories or land taken away by the government should be paid for their property. People who have these beliefs today are called Socialists. The second group, led by Marx, also wanted the government to take over all private property used to produce goods.

However, their methods were to be very different. They thought that violence or revolution would be necessary because the owners of property would fight to hold on to it. No payment should be made to these owners who lost their property. Today, those who believe in these methods are called Communists. The Russian Communists are the heirs of Marx. Edward Kolevzon, The Afro-Asian world. Allyn & Bacon, 1971. Tribes differed in their basic ways of providing for themselves. Indians of the Southwest lived in villages and planted their corn and squash in orderly rows. Around the Great Lakes forest Indians hunted deer and small furbearing animals. On the Great Plains braves tracked the buffalo. In the Pacific Northwest plentiful supplies of salmon and other fish tempted Indians into their canoes and kept hunger away. Bernard Weisberger, The impact of our past. McGraw Hill, 1972.

Exercise
Try this exercise: Exercise 1, Exercise 2

Exercise 1
Using the above paragraph as a model, compare the Armani, the Mesh Elite and the Elonex with respect to price, screen size and amount of RAM. Price Processor Speed Screen Size Hard Disk 17" 19" 19" 17" 40 GB 40 GB 57 GB 38.1 GB RAM 256 MB 256 MB 256 MB 128 MB

Evesham Axis 1.33 SK 1,174 1.33 GHz Armani R850 P4. Mesh Elite 1.7GT Pro Elonex WebRider Pro 2,467 1.7 GHz 1,938 1.7 GHz 1,174 1.2 GHz

Exercise 2
Students at university need to organise their lives, control their finances, keep records of phone numbers, remember assignment and exam dates etc. Some students use paper diaries and notes for this, but the use of electronic Personal Data Assistants is becoming more popular.

The table below compares 19 PDAs. Using the information given in the table, recommend one of the PDAs for general student use. You will need to describe what a student has to do, describe some of the PDAs, compare and contrast the ones you have chosen, look at advantages and disadvantages and finally recommend one. PDA Casio Cassiopeia E125 Casio Cassiopeia EM-500 Compaq iPaq H3630 Compaq iPaq H3130 HandEra 330 Handspring Visor Deluxe Hanspring Visor Edge Handspring Visor Prism Handspring Visor Platinum HP Jornada 548 HP Jornada 710 HP Jornada 720 Palm m05 Palm m500 Price 499 Operating System Microsoft Pocket PC Microsoft Pocket PC Microsoft Pocket PC Microsoft Pocket PC Palm OS Palm OS Palm OS Palm OS Palm OS Memory Size Weight Screen Size Rechargeable 240 x 320 Lithium-Ion pixels Rechargeable 240 x 320 Lithium-Ion pixels Rechargeable 240 x 320 Lith-Polymer pixels Rechargeable 240 x 320 Lith-Polymer pixels 4 x AA batteries 240 x 320 pixels 2 x AAA 240 x 320 batteries pixels Rechargeable 160 x 160 Lithium-Ion pixels Rechargeable 160 x 160 Lithium-Ion pixels 2 x AAA 160 x 160 batteries pixels Rechargeable 240 x 360 Lithium-Ion pixel Rechargeable 640 x 260 Lithium-Ion pixels Rechargeable 640 x 260 Lithium-Ion pixels 2 x AAA 160 x 160 batteries pixels Rechargeable 160 x 160 Lithium-Ion pixels Power

32MB 131 x 84 250g x 20mm 16MB 128 x 82 218g x 19mm 32MB 130 x 83 x 16mm 16MB 130 x 83 x 16mm 8MB 81 x 121 x 17mm 8MB 130 x 83 x 16mm 8MB 119 x 79 x 11mm 8MB 120 x 75 x 21mm 8MB 122 x 76 x 18mm 179g 163g 167g 163g 136g 194g 153g

399

449 338 335 144 269 349 189

Microsoft Pocket PC 599 Windows for Handheld PC 2000 665 Windows for Handheld PC 2000 169 Palm OS 329 Palm OS

389

32MB 118 x 79 260g x 18mm 32MB 189 x 95 510g x 34mm 32MB 189 x 95 510g x 34mm 8MB 8MB 79 x 118 125g x 18mm 114 x 79 113g x 10mm

Palm m505 Psion Revo Plus Psion 5MX Sharp ZQ770PC Sony Cli (PEG-S300)

399 300 400 100 199

Palm OS EPOC 5 EPOC 5 Proprietary Microsoft Pocket PC

114 x 79 x 10mm 16MB 79 x 157 x 17mm 16MB 90 x 170 x 23mm 3MB 82 x 160 x 20mm 8MB 71 x 115 x 15mm

8MB

139g 200g 320g 220g 121g

Rechargeable 240 x 320 Lithium-Ion pixels Rechargeable 480 x 160 N1MH pixels 2 x AA batteries 640 x 240 pixels 2 x AA batteries 239 x 80 pixels Rechargeable 160 x 160 Lithium-Ion pixels

Language
Comparison with respect to price. as regards price. as far as price is concerned. regarding price. in that the price is the same. in terms of price. in price.

The Evesham Axis is like the Elonex WebRider The Evesham Axis and the Elonex WebRider are similar The Evesham Axis is similar to the Elonex WebRider The Evesham Axis is the same as the Elonex WebRider The Evesham Axis resembles the Elonex WebRider

Both the Evesham Axis and the Elonex WebRider cost 1,174. The Evesham Axis is as expensive as the Elonex WebRider. The Evesham Axis costs the same as the Elonex WebRider. The Evesham Axis is the same price as the Elonex WebRider. Similarly, it has a high capacity hard disk. Likewise, it has a high capacity hard disk. The Mesh Elite has a large screen. Correspondingly, it has a high capacity hard disk. It has a high capacity hard disk, too. It also has a high capacity hard disk. Contrast The Evesham Axis differs from the Armani The Evesham Axis is unlike the Armani The Evesham Axis and the Armani differ with respect to price. as regards price. as far as price concerned.

The Evesham Axis is different from the Armani The Evesham Axis contrasts with the Armani

regarding price. in terms of price. in price.

The Evesham Axis costs 1,174, whereas the Armani costs 2,467. The Evesham Axis costs 1,174, while the Armani costs 2,467. The Evesham Axis costs 1,174, but the Armani costs 2,467. The Evesham Axis costs 1,174, in contrast to the Armani, which costs 2,467. The Armani is more expensive than the Evesham Axis. The Evesham Axis is not as expensive as the Armani. The Armani costs more than the Evesham Axis. On the other hand, it is very fast and has a large screen. In contrast, it is very fast and has a large screen. The Armani is expensive to buy. Conversely, it is very fast and has a large screen. However, it is very fast and has a large screen. Although the Armani is expensive to buy, it is very fast and has a large screen. Despite the high price of the Armani,

Exercise Answers:
Exercise 1

Comparing and contrasting

Three personal computers, the the Armani R850 P4, the Mesh Elite 1.7 GT Pro and the Elonex WebRider Pro, were compared with respect to the following factors: price: screen size and amount of RAM. The Elonex WebRider, which costs 1,174, is by far the cheapest of the three, the Armani and the Mesh Elite costing 2,467 and 1,938 respectively. The Mesh Elite has the same screen size as the Armani,19", whereas the Elonex is the smallest at 17". Regarding the amount of RAM, the Armani and the Mesh Elite are similar, with 256 MB, being twice as much as the Elonex. Exercise 2

Comparing and contrasting

Students at university need to organise their lives. They need to control their finances, keep records of phone numbers, and remember assignment and examination dates. Some students use paper diaries and notes for this, but it is now possible for them to use small computers to help them. These small computers, or personal data assistants, have been available for several years and are now becoming affordable for many students. As students are often short of money, care needs to be taken in choosing a PDA that is suitable. It needs to be affordable and the screen must be of a size that enables the required information to be seen clearly. The PDA must not be too heavy to be carried and it must have sufficient memory to store the required amount of information. The table shown gives information about 19 PDAs that are available. For reasons of memory, the Sharp ZQ is not suitable and because of price, anything above 200 pounds cannot be considered. That leaves the Handspring Visor Deluxe, The Handspring Visor Platinum, the Palm m05 and the Sony Clie. All are reasonably priced and have an adequate memory. The four remaining PDAs, the Visor Deluxe, the Visor Platinum, the Palm and the Sony, need to be compared with respect to the following factors: price, memory, size, weight, power and screen size. The Visor Deluxe, which costs 144, is by far the cheapest of the three, the Visor Platinum, the Palm and the Sony costing 189, 169 and 199 respectively. All four PDAs have 8 MB of memory and they are all approximately the same size. The Sony has a similar weight to the Palm,121g and 125g, whereas both the Visors are heavier at 153g and 167g. All use standard batteries, except the Sony, which uses rechargeable ones. Regarding screen size, the Handspring Visor Deluxe has by far the biggest, 240 x 320 pixels, the others having a smaller screen size 160 x 160 pixels. It is therefore recommended that students purchase the Handspring Visor Deluxe. Although it is the largest and heaviest of the four, it is the least expensive, and has the largest screen. The main disadvantage is that, as the batteries cannot be recharged, the students would have to budget for regular replacement batteries.