by Yang Ying
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Comparison-contrast: Subjects of CC & Points
of CC.
Patterns of CC: Point by Point
Block by Block
Examples and Analysis
Practice
Expressions of Comparison and Contrast
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Subjects of comparison: which two subjects
Points of comparison: what features to be
compared?
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Pair work: Come up with two subjects of
comparison/contrast
List the possible points of comparison &
contrast
Sharing of results of discussion
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Topic sentence
Body: ABABABABABABABAB
AB ABABABABABABABABAB
AB ABABABABABABABABAB
AB ABABABABABABABABAB
AB ABABABABABABABABAB
AB ABABABABABABABABAB
Concluding sentence
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Topic sentence
Body: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB
Concluding sentence
 1Chinese
differs from English in several ways, and
these differences make learning English difficult.
2First, the most complex difference is the word order.
3For example, in English, a greeting is ‘How are you?’
but in Chinese, the same greeting is ‘You are how?’
4Next, in Chinese, our verbs do not have past tense;
instead, we know the time from the adverb. 5In
English, however, time is designated by tense.
6Besides these important basic problems, Chinese
and English have many small differences. 7Chinese,
for instance, does not distinguish between ‘he’ and
‘she’, nor is there a difference between ‘a’ and ‘an’ as
there is in English. 8For these reasons, many Chinese
students make errors in their spoken and written
English.
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Compare a laser printer with an inkjet
Subjects of comparison:
A: __________ B: __________
Points of Comparison:
A1/B1:
A2/B2:
A3/B3:
A4/B4:
The two types of printers commonly seen on the market are the
inkjet and the laser printer, and each has its own strengths and
weaknesses. The laser printer works a lot faster than the inkjet,
as a few pages can be printed in a few seconds, but with an
inkjet, it works the other way around: printing one page may
take many a second. The laser printer also prints quietly; it
usually does not give off the screeching sound an inkjet
produces when it painstakingly churns out one page. A laser
printer may be more expensive, but in the long run it may
actually cost less. Its cartridge, which costs about $200, can
print 5,000 pages, but an inkjet cartridge, which costs more than
$40, will have to be replaced after printing 200 pages. However,
an affordable laser printer for family use is usually black and
white, while an inkjet can print colorful pictures. Very often, a
black and white laser printer serves only the function of printing,
while it is now common to see an inkjet with the multiple
functions of a fax, a scanner, a photocopier, and a printer. Given
the different strengths of both printers, it may not be difficult to
understand why some people choose to have both at home.
You can hardly imagine George and Jack are actually twins. It
is almost impossible for George to sit still for more than
30 minutes at a stretch and he is the chattiest person
among his groups of friends. His twin brother Jack,
however, is a boy of few words and loves to read books in
solitude rather than going out to enjoy parties. Unlike
George, who has a ready smile on his face and is quick to
greet everybody he knows on his way, Jack usually plods
along silently, often too lost in deep thoughts to even
return a greeting in time. The two do not even look alike.
George is a chubby looking boy on the verge of being
overweight; in contrast, Jack is simply “skinny” with sunken
cheeks and a sharp chin. While relatives and family
members call George a friendly “public relations officer”,
they fondly refer to Jack as the “absent-minded professor”.
Even their parents can hardly understand why the two
brothers are so different.
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Subjects of comparison/contrast
A: _____________ B: _______________
Points of comparison/contrast
A:
B:
C:
Pattern of Organization:
Living in the rural area versus living in the city
For a child, living in the countryside is so much more interesting than living in the
city. When you live in the countryside, you almost never lack company. Children
from the whole village are your friends and you flock together to all the fun
places: Johnny’s orchard where you can eat fruits in season to your heart’s
content, Granny Ma’s old hut where you can easily find heaps of birds’ eggs under
the thatched roof. Even running around in the open is fun, not to mention the
thrill when you may occasionally come upon an old deserted well, a dead snake,
or a crawling turtle. I can’t imagine how bored I would be if I had to live in the city
where all kids seem to be holed up in their own apartments most of the time and
they do not have the space to play together even if they are lucky enough to make
a few friends in their neighborhood. What about city children’s fun places? Places
they frequent are tuition centers, a private tutor’s home or worse still, the little
stool in front of the piano in their own home! I would rather spend my childhood
happy and free in my “backward” village than “lose” my childhood in an
“advanced” city.
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Subjects of comparison/contrast
A: _____________ B: _______________
Points of comparison/contrast
A:
B:
C:
Pattern of Organization:
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as opposed to
in contrast to unlike
contrasts with
differs from
differences
Contrasts
different from
dissimilar to
But
however
in/by contrast
on the other hand
on the contrary
conversely
nevertheless, nonetheless
while, whereas
more/less/-er.. than
an important distinction between
differ in a number of aspects
to draw a distinction between …
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ES5001(A) Course materials
Lee, K.C., Goh, H., Chan, J. ,& Yang, Y. (2007). Effective
College Writing: A Process-Genre Approach. Singapore:
McGrawHill.
Lee, K.C., Goh, H., Chan, J. ,& Yang, Y. (2009). Effective
College Writing: A Process-Genre Approach (2nd ed.).
Singapore: McGrawHill.