Comparative Analysis Comparison illustrates how two or more

Comparative Analysis

• Comparison illustrates how two or more things are similar • Contrast illustrates how two or more things are different • In most academic writing, the two are combined to analyze • In essence, you will be creating an extended analogy • An analogy explains one thing by comparing/contrasting it to a more familiar thing

Keyhole/Lens Comparision • In the “lens” or “keyhole” comparison, you weight A less heavily than B • You use A as a lens through which to view B • Use A as a framework for understanding B in order to change the way in which B is viewed • Useful for enlightening, critiquing, or challenging the status quo of the thing before your analysis was done • Lens comparisons take time into account: earlier texts, events, or historical figures

How to Write Good Comparison • The difficulty of comparison-contrast papers is that well-developed ones do not merely state all the similarities of A and B and then the differences • To write a critically well-developed compare-contrast paper, you must take raw facts (the similarities and differences you’ve observed) and make them cohere into a meaningful argument; next are five elements required to construct an excellent compare-contrast essay

Frame of Reference • Organization • Types of Information • Grouping of information • Specific sources • Provides context

Grounds for Comparison • Why are you comparing these two things?

Thesis In a comparison-and-contrast paper, thesis highlights how A and B actually relate to one another; do they corroborate, complicate, contradict, correct, or debate one another? Identify not only the subjects being compared and contrasted, but also the overall point you are making by doing so; what is the underlying theme of your piece? In other words, what is your message?

Organization • The two basic ways to organize the body of your paper is in a text -by-text method, where you discuss all of A, then all of B, or in a point-by-point (feature-by-feature) method, where you alternate points about A with comparable points about B

Transitional Phrases To Compare Similarly, likewise, in like fashion, in like manner, analogous to, comparatively, accordingly, in the same way, comparative to, as, also, in conjunction with this

Transitional Phrases To Contrast On the contrary, contrarily, notwithstanding, but, however, nevertheless, in spite of, in contrast, yet, on one hand, on the other hand, rather, or, nor, conversely, at the same time, while this may be true.