Organizational Pattern: Comparison and Contrast
Steps for organizing an essay that compares the Yeats and Updike poems.
ENGLISH 11AP:
Organizational Pattern – Comparison/ Contrast
- Articulate the purpose for the comparison or contrast: How do the two poems provoke a strikingly different response through similar scenes?
- Determine which elements of the poem support the two focuses of the poem.
- Select the specific details that belong to these elements and list them under the appropriate element.
- Formulate a thesis statement. In that statement, identify the subject to be compared and the subject to be contrasted, establish the purpose of the comparison/ contrast, and make clear whether you will concentrate on similarities or differences.
- Determine the structure of your essay. You may use either a subject-to subject comparison or a point-by-point comparison. Both are outlined here.
| Subject-to-Subject | Point-by-Point |
|---|---|
| Introduction (including thesis) “The Wild Swans at Coole” Similarity of Scene Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 Point 4 “The Wild Swans at Coole” Dissimilarity of Response Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 Point 4 “The Great Scarf of Birds” Similarity of Scene Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 Point 4 “The Great Scarf of Birds” Dissimilarity of Response Point 1 Point 2 Point 3 Point 4 Conclusion |
Introduction (including thesis) Similarity of Scene Point 1 “The Wild Swans at Coole” “The Great Scarf of Birds” Point 2 “The Wild Swans at Coole” “The Great Scarf of Birds” Point 3 “The Wild Swans at Coole” “The Great Scarf of Birds” Point 4 “The Wild Swans at Coole” “The Great Scarf of Birds” Dissimilarity of Response Point 1 “The Wild Swans at Coole” “The Great Scarf of Birds” Point 2 “The Wild Swans at Coole” “The Great Scarf of Birds” Point 3 “The Wild Swans at Coole” “The Great Scarf of Birds” Point 4 “The Wild Swans at Coole” “The Great Scarf of Birds” Conclusion |
- Use transitional expressions:
- Comparison - similar to, similarly, like, likewise, just like, just as, furthermore, moreover, equally, again, also, too, so, in comparison to, as well as, and
- Contrast - on the contrary, on the other hand, instead of, different from, while, although, unlike, even though, nevertheless, however, otherwise, except for, and yet, still