Short on time? This page is the recap. For explanations and worked examples, use the full study guide.
Recap
- Comparison-contrast is a method of development.
- The writer presents a category of comparison and then examines similarities and/or differences between the objects.
- Like categories must be used when analysing similarities or differences.
- Organise point by point or block by block.
- The comparison must lead to a claim: say what the similarities or differences show.
Key relationships
| Idea | What to do |
|---|---|
| Category | Name the feature compared (cost, speed, effect on mood) |
| Like categories | Measure both objects on the same feature |
| Similarity | Show that things that look different work alike |
| Difference | Show that things that look alike differ in a way that matters |
| Point-by-point | One category at a time, both objects together |
| Block | One object at a time, same categories in the same order |
| Commentary | Say what the comparison proves for the claim |
| Reading question | How to answer |
|---|---|
| What is the category? | The feature on which both objects are measured |
| What is the purpose? | The claim the comparison supports |
| How is it organised? | Point by point or block |
| What does it prove? | State the inference, not just the facts |
Assumptions and conventions
- Choose categories that bear on the claim.
- Two or three well-chosen categories are better than many.
- A comparison may be a sentence, a paragraph or a whole essay.
- Use transitions that name the category (“on cost”, “by contrast”, “in the same way”).
Mistakes to avoid
- Comparing unlike categories (cost for one object, popularity for the other).
- Listing differences without saying what they prove.
- Choosing irrelevant categories.
- Drifting between categories in a block.
- Treating the objects unfairly, giving one object detail and the other a line.
- Ending with the comparison instead of the claim.
- Naming “compare and contrast” in analysis without describing the category and its effect.
Worked mini-example
Task: compare a bicycle and a bus for a five-kilometre journey to school.
| Category | Bicycle | Bus |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per week | low | higher |
| Time | about 20 minutes | about 25 minutes with waiting |
| Reliability | depends on weather | depends on timetable |
Every row compares the same feature for both objects. A comparison paragraph would work through the rows (point by point) and end on a claim, such as “the bicycle is the better choice for short journeys in dry weather”.
On the exam
When a reading question asks how a writer develops an idea through comparison, name the category of comparison, say whether the writer compares or contrasts, and explain what the comparison proves.
Quick self-check
- A writer compares a train’s cost with a car’s comfort. What is wrong? (The categories are unlike; compare cost with cost or comfort with comfort.)
- When might block organisation be better than point-by-point? (When each object is complex and the reader needs it whole first.)
- Name the category in “In winter the river freezes; in summer the canal dries.” (The state of the water in each season; the contrast is in how each fails.)
Next: practice questions.