Comparison / Contrast and Cause & Effect Essays

For Essay #1– you will choose one format or the other. You will also need to use at least one outside source to support your points in the body of

your essay.

Comparison Contrast

What is Comparison Contrast?

• Comparison means “How things are similar”

• Contrast means “How things are different”

Setting up your Comparison / Contrast Paper

• Only focus on 2 things• 2 people• 2 places• 2 things• 2 ideas

The First Step

• The first step in setting up your paper – think about ideas to compare and contrast [brainstorm & make a list]

–2cities–London–Paris–How same?–How different?

Compare/Contrast Bill and BobBob

55 years oldEconomics Prof at SDSU

FishermanMarried3 kids

House in Del MarReads Sci Fi Novels

Bill55 years old

CEO of Gardening BusinessCollects Stamps

Not MarriedNo kids

Condo in Spring ValleyMountain Biker

Group ideas into points for comparison & contrast

• Home [ city, type of house]• Occupation [ job, salary]• Family Life [marriage, children]• Hobbies [fun]

Bill55 years old

CEO Gardening Business Collects Stamps

Not MarriedNo kids

Condo in Spring ValleyMountain Biker

Bob55 years old

Economics Prof at SDSUFisherman

Married3 kids

House in Del MarReads Sci Fi Novels

Two Patterns of Comparison contrast

• Block• Point by point

Block method

• Bill– Home– Family– Hobbies

• Bob– Home– Family– Hobbies

Point by Point method• Home

– Bill– Bob

• Occupation– Bill– Bob

• Family life– Bill– Bob

• Hobbies– Bill– Bob

Thesis for Comparison Contrast

• You must list the two people, places, things or ideas you are comparing and contrasting in your thesis.

• You must let us know clearly if you are comparing, contrasting, or both.

• You must tell us why you are comparing and contrasting [why does the reader care?]

Avoiding the “so-what” thesis – make your reader’s care

• Why should the readers care about your comparing and contrasting these 2 people, places, things, or ideas?– Maybe your readers will care because they need the

information to help them or maybe because the information is surprising.

• Poor: Bill and Bob are both similar and different.• Better: Although Bill and Bob were born identical

twins, as adults, their lives are quite different.

Cause and Effect

What is cause & effect?

• Causes : Reasons why something happens

• Effects : Results of an action• In car accident,

what is the cause?

what is the effect?

Your Causes Paper

• Choose your paper to be about the cause of something. Ask yourself a question about it.

• Ex: What are three main causes of poor grades for college freshmen?

• Put the effect [poor grades] in your thesis statement.

• Your causes will be your main points in the plan of development.

Causes Papers thesis

• If you choose a causes paper – put the effect into the thesis statement and the causes will be your plan of development.

• Thesis: Poor grades in college are usually caused by lack of sleep, poor time management, and low motivation levels.

• Effect: Poor Grades• Causes: lack of sleep, poor time

management, and low motivation levels

Your Effects Paper• Choose your paper topic to be about 3

effects of something. Ask yourself a question about it.

• Ex: What are the effects on college freshmen when they don’t get enough sleep?

• Put the cause [lack of sleep] in your thesis statement.

• Your effects will be the main points in your plan of development

Effects Paper Thesis

• If you choose an effects paper – put the cause into the thesis statement and the effects will be your plan of development.

• Thesis: Not getting enough sleep leads students to forget assignments, make poor choices on exams, and not listen during lectures.

• Cause – Not getting enough sleep• Effects - forget assignments, make poor choices

on exams, not listen during lectures

Avoiding the “so what” thesis

• Why are you explaining the causes and effects of something?

• Why does the reader care? • Think about it and put it into your essay

and thesis statement.

So what thesis #2

– EX: Poor grades in college are usually caused by lack of sleep, poor time management, and low motivation levels.

• Why do students care about poor grades? Probably because they want good grades!

• Put the idea of how to get good grades by avoiding these causes into your paper.– Better: To succeed in school, students need to avoid

the pitfalls suffered by many college freshmen. Poor grades in college are usually caused by lack of sleep, poor time management, and low motivation levels.

Using an outside source

• For this essay you will need to use information from a book, magazine, newspaper, or appropriate website to support your ideas in your body paragraphs.

• You will either use a quote or paraphrase method making sure to give credit to the original author in the essay and on your works cited page.

Quoting

• To properly quote an idea in the body of your essay, you’ll need 3 sentences:– #1 State your points clearly in your own words– #2 Put the exact phrase you are quoting into

quotation marks and the author’s name and pg # in brackets

– #3 Explain in your own words how this quote supports your point in #1

Quote example

Students who learn how to effectively use quotations go farther in college. A recent study showed that “students who properly used citation strategies were 50% more likely to finish BA degrees.” [Groman 22] Groman’s study clearly shows that understanding how to quote helps students succeed in college.

Paraphrasing

• Definition: Using another person’s information to write out a sentence in your own words.

• Even though you are using your own words, you need to give credit to the person or place where you got your information.

• The next slide gives steps in using an effective paraphrase.

How to Paraphrase

• To properly use a paraphrase in the body of your essay, you’ll need 3 sentences:– #1 State your points clearly in your own words– #2 Using your own words, write the

information you found in a book or magazine and put the author’s name and pg # in brackets at the end of your sentence

– #3 Explain in your own words how this quote supports your point in #1

Paraphrase example

Students who learn how to effectively use quotations go farther in college. A recent study showed that knowing how to quote and paraprhase properly significantly helped students finish their degrees. [Groman 22] This study clearly shows that understanding how to quote helps students succeed in college.

Works Cited Page

• When you use a quote in your essay, you must also include a works cited page at the end to give credit to the author and to help the reader find the source you used.

• Just so you know: Books, magazines and newspapers are your best sources. Internet websites are often POOR. Make sure you are using a good source.

Example Works Cited page

• In general, your works cited page says Works Cited as the title.

• Then you list the works in alphabetical order by author’s last name.

• Then you present the information usually like this:– Author last name, first name. Book Title. City where

published: Publisher, year.– Neylon, Virginia. Psychology and Literature. San

Diego: UC Riverside Publishing, 2000.

Writing your works cited page

• For more detailed information on how to write your works cited page for books, magazines,and more, check out the Website below as it has models you can use:

• http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citmla.htm

• Good luck!