Smoking Or Drinking: Which Is More Dangerous?
This is what my instructor has posted. Compare and contrast essay.Chose a random topic, but if you have something else that you feel would suit better, have at it.
When we “compare,” we are looking for similarities; when we “contrast,” we are looking for differences.
Say you’d like to buy a new car, and you are trying to decide between a Toyota Prius and a Dodge Charger. There are plenty of similarities and differences between the two, but how would you go about “organizing” your information to make a final decision?
There are two ways to organize a compare and contrast essay. The first is considered “point-by-point,” and the second is considered “block style.”
Gas mileage might be the topic for a paragraph in the point-by-point method looking at the two cars. A writer would go “back-and-forth” from the Prius (hwy) to the Charger (hwy), followed by the Prius (city) to the Charger (city), and finally the Prius (regular gas) to the Charger (premium gas) all in the same paragraph.
However in the block style, a writer would need two paragraphs to describe the same scenario: The first paragraph would describe only the Prius (hwy, city, regular gas); then the next paragraph would describe only the Charger (hwy, city, premium gas). This means you will have more than three “body” paragraphs for this assignment if you use this method of organization.
Neither method of organization is easier nor more difficult than the other; it simply depends on the topic as to which method is more fluid. Both methods present similarities and differences along the way without necessarily saying so by “showing, not telling.” 😉 However, once you decide on a particular method, you must stay with that same method all the way through to the end and not switch methods!
Similar to the last “persuasive” strategy, the conclusion needs to determine “the better choice of the two” (or why bother “comparing & contrasting two things”!), so please make sure for this assignment you clearly choose the winner.
Your assignment is to create your own “compare & contrast” essay. It can be about any two things; it simply needs to contain the “Standard Five-Paragraph Essay” elements as well as choosing only one key method of organization as described above and identifying “the better of the two.”
