Oxbridge Essays Blog

WilliamGexia · Gość

?How to put in writing a Comparative Analysis
Throughout your academic career, you'll be asked to put in writing papers in which you compare and contrast two things: two texts, two theories, two historical figures, two scientific processes, and so on. "Classic" compare-and-contrast papers, in which you weight A and B equally, may be about two similar things that have crucial differences (two pesticides with different effects in the environment) or two similar things that have crucial differences, yet turn out to have surprising commonalities (two politicians with vastly different world views who voice unexpectedly similar perspectives on sexual harassment).
On the "lens" (or "keyhole") comparison, in which you weight A less heavily than B, you utilize a as a lens through which to watch B. Just as browsing through a pair of glasses changes the way you see an object, employing A as a framework for understanding B changes the way you see B. Lens comparisons are useful for illuminating, critiquing, or challenging the stability of the thing that, before the analysis, seemed perfectly understood. Often, lens comparisons take time into account: earlier texts, events, or historical figures may illuminate later ones, and vice versa.
Faced which includes a daunting list of seemingly unrelated similarities and differences, you may actually feel confused about how to construct a paper that isn't just a mechanical exercise in which you number one state all the attributes that A and B have in frequent, and then state all the ways in which A and B are different. Predictably, the thesis of this kind of a paper is usually an assertion that A and B are very similar yet not so similar after all. To put in writing a very good compare-and-contrast paper, you must take your raw data-the similarities and differences you've observed-and make them cohere into a meaningful argument. Below are the 5 things required.
Frame of Reference . This is the context within just which you position the two things you plan to compare and contrast; it is the umbrella less than which you have grouped them. The frame of reference may consist of an idea, theme, question, problem, or theory; a group of similar things from which you extract two for special attention; biographical or historical information and facts. The finest frames of reference are constructed from particular resources rather than your individual thoughts or observations. Thus, inside a paper comparing how two writers redefine social norms of masculinity, you would be improved off quoting a sociologist around the topic of masculinity than spinning out potentially banal-sounding theories of your private. Most assignments tell you exactly what the frame of reference should be, and most courses supply resources for constructing it. When you encounter an assignment that fails to offer a frame of reference, you must come up with a single on your very own. A paper without this sort of a context would have no angle for the material, no focus or frame for your writer to propose a meaningful argument.
Grounds for Comparison . Let's say you're creating a paper on world wide food distribution, and you've chosen to compare apples and oranges. Why these particular fruits? Why not pears and bananas? The rationale behind your choice, the grounds for comparison . allows your reader know why your choice is deliberate and meaningful, not random. For instance, within a paper asking how the "discourse of domesticity" has long been utilized within the abortion discussion, the grounds for comparison are obvious; the issue has two conflicting sides, pro-choice and pro-life. Within a paper comparing the effects of acid rain on two forest sites, your choice of sites is less obvious. A paper focusing on similarly aged forest stands in Maine and therefore the Catskills will be arrange differently from just one comparing a new forest stand while in the White Mountains with the old forest around the same region. You will want to indicate the reasoning behind your choice.
Thesis. The grounds for comparison anticipates the comparative nature of your thesis. As in any argumentative paper, your thesis statement will convey the gist of your argument, which necessarily follows from your frame of reference. But inside of a compare-and-contrast, the thesis relies upon on how the two things you've chosen to compare actually relate to a particular another. Do they prolong, corroborate, complicate, contradict, correct, or discussion just one another? On the most commonplace compare-and-contrast paper-one focusing on differences-you can indicate the precise relationship somewhere between A and B by utilising the word "whereas" as part of your thesis:
Whereas Camus perceives ideology as secondary to the really want to address a unique historical moment of colonialism, Fanon perceives a revolutionary ideology since the impetus to reshape Algeria's history inside of a direction toward independence.
Whether your paper focuses primarily on difference or similarity, you wish to make the relationship involving A and B clear inside your thesis. This relationship is within the heart of any compare-and-contrast paper.
Organizational Scheme. Your introduction will include your frame of reference, grounds for comparison, and thesis. There are two important ways to organize the body of your paper.
In text-by-text . you discuss all of the, then all of B.
In point-by-point . you alternate points about A with comparable points about B.
Should you think that B extends A, you'll probably utilize a text-by-text scheme; when you see A and B engaged in discussion, a point-by-point scheme will draw attention to the conflict. Be aware, however, that the point-by- point scheme can come off as a ping-pong game. You can actually avoid this effect by grouping a lot more than a single point together, thereby cutting down to the quantity of times you alternate from the to B. But no matter which organizational scheme you choose, you'll need not give equal time to similarities and differences. In fact, your paper will be a great deal more interesting if you happen to get to the heart of your argument as swiftly as quite possible. Thus, a paper on two evolutionary theorists' different interpretations of exact archaeological findings would probably have as number of as two or three sentences during the introduction on similarities and at most a paragraph or two to create the contrast involving the theorists' positions. The rest of your paper, whether organized text- by-text or point-by-point, will treat the two theorists' differences.
You possibly can organize a classic compare-and-contrast paper either text-by-text or point-by-point. But inside a "lens" comparison, in which you spend significantly less time with a (the lens) than on B (the focal textual content), you almost always organize text-by-text. That's since A and B are not strictly comparable: A is merely a resource for helping you discover whether or not B's nature is actually what expectations have led you to definitely believe it is.
Linking of the and B . All argumentative papers require you to definitely link each individual point with the argument again to the thesis. Without this kind of links, your reader will be unable to see how new sections logically and systematically advance your argument. Inside of a compare-and contrast, you also will want to make links involving A and B inside of the body of your essay if you happen to want your paper to hold together. To make these links, use transitional expressions of comparison and contrast ( similarly, moreover, likewise, within the contrary, conversely, over the other hand ) and contrastive vocabulary (from the example below, Southerner/Northerner ).
As a girl raised within the faded glory in the Old South, amid mystical tales of magnolias and moonlight, the mother remains part of the dying technology. Surrounded by hard times, racial conflict, and minimal opportunities, Julian, around the other hand . feels repelled by the provincial nature of home, and represents a new Southerner, 1 who sees his indigenous land through a condescending Northerner's eyes.
Copyright 1998, Kerry Walk, with the Producing Center at Harvard University