Compare and Contrast
Showing Similarities and
Differences in your writing
Compare
SHOWS what is the same
about two or more things.
Oranges and
Bananas
You eat both of them.
They are both fruits.
You have to peel both of them.
Contrast
SHOWS what is different
about two or more things.
Oranges and
Bananas
Oranges are orange.
 Bananas are yellow.
Oranges are round.
 Bananas are long.
Oranges have seeds.
 Bananas don’t have seeds.
Venn Diagrams
• You KNOW and LOVE them;
• A great way to organize your
thoughts when you are comparing and
contrasting two things.
• In the middle you put how the two
objects are alike.
• On the sides you put how the objects
are different.
Example Venn Diagram
•have seeds
•orange
•round
•fruit
•yellow
•can eat it
•long
•have to
peel it
•doesn’t have
seeds
What are we asked to do when
we compare and contrast?
You
–
–
–
–
–
may be asked to compare/contrast:
ARTICLES/STORIES/POEMS;
AUTHORS’ POINTS OF VIEW;
OBJECTS;
OPINIONS;
PLACES;
– EVENTS (historical to present and vice
versa);
– IDEAS;
What do compare/contrast
questions look like?
How do I know if I am being asked
to compare/contrast something?
• Compare/Contrast questions have key
words in them, like:
COMPARE WORDS
-LIKE
-HAVE IN COMMON
-SAME
-AS WELL AS
-BOTH THE SAME AS
-SIMILAR
-IN THE SAME WAY
-MOST IMPORTANT
-SIMILARILY
-AS
-TOO
CONTRAST WORDS
-ALTHOUGH
-WHEREAS
-HOWEVER
-WHILE
-DIFFER
-UNLESS
-UNLIKE
-CONTRARY TO
-EVEN THOUGH
-YET -ON THE OTHER -HAND
-BUT
-THE REVERSE
-INSTEAD
-ON THE CONTRARY
Review
• COMPARE = SIMILARITIES
• CONTAST = DIFFERENCES
• Organize ideas using a VENN
DIAGRAM
• Use ONLY TEXT BASED
DETAILS!!!
Now it’s your turn!!!
Choose ONE of the pairs below to
compare and contrast on your own
using the Venn Diagram provided.



TWO SPORTS (i.e. baseball/track)
TWO SEASONS (i.e. spring/winter)
TWO PEOPLE (i.e. adults/children)

TWO OBJECTS (i.e. book/iPad)