by Yang Ying

Comparison-contrast: Subjects of CC & Points

of CC.
Patterns of CC: Point by Point
Block by Block
Examples and Analysis
Practice
Expressions of Comparison and Contrast
 Subjects of comparison: which two subjects
Points of comparison: what features to be
compared?
 Pair work: Come up with two subjects of
comparison/contrast
List the possible points of comparison &
contrast
Sharing of results of discussion
 Topic sentence
Body: ABABABABABABABAB
AB ABABABABABABABABAB
AB ABABABABABABABABAB
AB ABABABABABABABABAB
AB ABABABABABABABABAB
AB ABABABABABABABABAB
Concluding sentence
 Topic sentence
Body: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
Concluding sentence
 1Chinese differs from English in several ways, and
these differences make learning English difficult.
2First, the most complex difference is the word order.
3For example, in English, a greeting is How are you?
but in Chinese, the same greeting is You are how?
4Next, in Chinese, our verbs do not have past tense;
instead, we know the time from the adverb. 5In
English, however, time is designated by tense.
6Besides these important basic problems, Chinese
and English have many small differences. 7Chinese,
for instance, does not distinguish between he and
she, nor is there a difference between a and an as
there is in English. 8For these reasons, many Chinese
students make errors in their spoken and written
English.
 Compare a laser printer with an inkjet
Subjects of comparison:
A: __________ B: __________
Points of Comparison:
A1/B1:
A2/B2:
A3/B3:
A4/B4:
The two types of printers commonly seen on the market are the
inkjet and the laser printer, and each has its own strengths and
weaknesses. The laser printer works a lot faster than the inkjet,
as a few pages can be printed in a few seconds, but with an
inkjet, it works the other way around: printing one page may
take many a second. The laser printer also prints quietly; it
usually does not give off the screeching sound an inkjet
produces when it painstakingly churns out one page. A laser
printer may be more expensive, but in the long run it may
actually cost less. Its cartridge, which costs about $200, can
print 5,000 pages, but an inkjet cartridge, which costs more than
$40, will have to be replaced after printing 200 pages. However,
an affordable laser printer for family use is usually black and
white, while an inkjet can print colorful pictures. Very often, a
black and white laser printer serves only the function of printing,
while it is now common to see an inkjet with the multiple
functions of a fax, a scanner, a photocopier, and a printer. Given
the different strengths of both printers, it may not be difficult to
understand why some people choose to have both at home.
You can hardly imagine George and Jack are actually twins. It
is almost impossible for George to sit still for more than
30 minutes at a stretch and he is the chattiest person
among his groups of friends. His twin brother Jack,
however, is a boy of few words and loves to read books in
solitude rather than going out to enjoy parties. Unlike
George, who has a ready smile on his face and is quick to
greet everybody he knows on his way, Jack usually plods
along silently, often too lost in deep thoughts to even
return a greeting in time. The two do not even look alike.
George is a chubby looking boy on the verge of being
overweight; in contrast, Jack is simply skinny with sunken
cheeks and a sharp chin. While relatives and family
members call George a friendly public relations officer,
they fondly refer to Jack as the absent-minded professor.
Even their parents can hardly understand why the two
brothers are so different.
 Subjects of comparison/contrast
A: _____________ B: _______________

Points of comparison/contrast
A:
B:
C:
Pattern of Organization:
Living in the rural area versus living in the city

For a child, living in the countryside is so much more interesting than living in the
city. When you live in the countryside, you almost never lack company. Children
from the whole village are your friends and you ock together to all the fun
places: Johnnys orchard where you can eat fruits in season to your hearts
content, Granny Mas old hut where you can easily nd heaps of birds eggs under
the thatched roof. Even running around in the open is fun, not to mention the
thrill when you may occasionally come upon an old deserted well, a dead snake,
or a crawling turtle. I cant imagine how bored I would be if I had to live in the city
where all kids seem to be holed up in their own apartments most of the time and
they do not have the space to play together even if they are lucky enough to make
a few friends in their neighborhood. What about city childrens fun places? Places
they frequent are tuition centers, a private tutors home or worse still, the little
stool in front of the piano in their own home! I would rather spend my childhood
happy and free in my backward village than lose my childhood in an
advanced city.
 Subjects of comparison/contrast
A: _____________ B: _______________

Points of comparison/contrast
A:
B:
C:
Pattern of Organization:
 as opposed to in contrast to unlike
contrasts with
differs from differences
Contrasts different from
dissimilar to But
however in/by contrast
on the other hand on the contrary
conversely
nevertheless, nonetheless while, whereas
more/less/-er.. than
an important distinction between
differ in a number of aspects
to draw a distinction between
 ES5001(A) Course materials
Lee, K.C., Goh, H., Chan, J. ,& Yang, Y. (2007). Effective
College Writing: A Process-Genre Approach. Singapore:
McGrawHill.
Lee, K.C., Goh, H., Chan, J. ,& Yang, Y. (2009). Effective
College Writing: A Process-Genre Approach (2nd ed.).
Singapore: McGrawHill.