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4.1: Introduction to Comparison and Contrast Essay
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The key to a good compare-and-contrast essay is to choose two or more subjects that connect in a meaningful way. Comparison and contrast is simply telling how two things are alike or different. The compare-and-contrast essay starts with a thesis that clearly states the two subjects that are to be compared, contrasted, or both. The thesis should focus on comparing, contrasting, or both.
Key Elements of the Compare and Contrast:
- A compare-and-contrast essay analyzes two subjects by either comparing them, contrasting them, or both.
- The purpose of writing a comparison or contrast essay is not to state the obvious but rather to illuminate subtle differences or unexpected similarities between two subjects.
- The thesis should clearly state the subjects that are to be compared, contrasted, or both, and it should state what is to be learned from doing so.
- Organize by the subjects themselves, one then the other.
- Organize by individual points, in which you discuss each subject in relation to each point.
- Use phrases of comparison or phrases of contrast to signal to readers how exactly the two subjects are being analyzed.
Objectives: By the end of this unit, you will be able to
- Identify compare & contrast relationships in model essays
- Construct clearly formulated thesis statements that show compare & contrast relationships
- Use pre-writing techniques to brainstorm and organize ideas showing a comparison and/or contrast
- Construct an outline for a five-paragraph compare & contrast essay
- Write a five-paragraph compare & contrast essay
- Use a variety of vocabulary and language structures that express compare & contrast essay relationships
Example Thesis: Organic vegetables may cost more than those that are conventionally grown, but when put to the test, they are definitely worth every extra penny.
Sample Paragraph:
Organic grown tomatoes purchased at the farmers’ market are very different from tomatoes that are grown conventionally. To begin with, although tomatoes from both sources will mostly be red, the tomatoes at the farmers’ market are a brighter red than those at a grocery store. That doesn’t mean they are shinier—in fact, grocery store tomatoes are often shinier since they have been waxed. You are likely to see great size variation in tomatoes at the farmers’ market, with tomatoes ranging from only a couple of inches across to eight inches across. By contrast, the tomatoes in a grocery store will be fairly uniform in size. All the visual differences are interesting, but the most important difference is the taste. The farmers’ market tomatoes will be bursting with flavor from ripening on the vine in their own time. However, the grocery store tomatoes are often close to being flavorless. In conclusion, the differences in organic and conventionally grown tomatoes are obvious in color, size and taste.
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Broad Public Support for Legal Abortion Persists 2 Years After Dobbs
By more than 2 to 1, americans say medication abortion should be legal, table of contents.
- Other abortion attitudes
- Overall attitudes about abortion
- Americans’ views on medication abortion in their states
- How statements about abortion resonate with Americans
- Acknowledgments
- The American Trends Panel survey methodology
Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand Americans’ views on the legality of abortion, as well as their perceptions of abortion access. For this analysis, we surveyed 8,709 adults from April 8 to 14, 2024. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology .
Here are the questions used for the report and its methodology .
Nearly two years after the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a national right to abortion, a majority of Americans continue to express support for abortion access.
About six-in-ten (63%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. This share has grown 4 percentage points since 2021 – the year prior to the 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe.
The new Pew Research Center survey, conducted April 8-14, 2024, among 8,709 adults, surfaces ongoing – and often partisan – divides over abortion attitudes:
- Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (85%) overwhelmingly say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, with near unanimous support among liberal Democrats.
- By comparison, Republicans and Republican leaners (41%) are far less likely to say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. However, two-thirds of moderate and liberal Republicans still say it should be.
Since before Roe was overturned, both parties have seen a modest uptick in the share who say abortion should be legal.
As in the past, relatively few Americans (25%) say abortion should be legal in all cases, while even fewer (8%) say it should be illegal in all cases. About two-thirds of Americans do not take an absolutist view: 38% say it should be legal in most cases, and 28% say it should be illegal in most cases.
Related: Americans overwhelmingly say access to IVF is a good thing
Women’s abortion decisions
A narrow majority of Americans (54%) say the statement “the decision about whether to have an abortion should belong solely to the pregnant woman” describes their views extremely or very well. Another 19% say it describes their views somewhat well, and 26% say it does not describe their views well.
Views on an embryo’s rights
About a third of Americans (35%) say the statement “human life begins at conception, so an embryo is a person with rights” describes their views extremely or very well, while 45% say it does not describe their views well.
But many Americans are cross-pressured in their views: 32% of Americans say both statements about women’s decisions and embryos’ rights describe their views at least somewhat well.
Abortion access
About six-in-ten Americans in both parties say getting an abortion in the area where they live would be at least somewhat easy, compared with four-in-ten or fewer who say it would be difficult.
However, U.S. adults are divided over whether getting an abortion should be easier or harder:
- 31% say it should be easier for someone to get an abortion in their area, while 25% say it should be harder. Four-in-ten say the ease of access should be about what it is now.
- 48% of Democrats say that obtaining an abortion should be easier than it is now, while just 15% of Republicans say this. Instead, 40% of Republicans say it should be harder (just 11% of Democrats say this).
As was the case last year, views about abortion access vary widely between those who live in states where abortion is legal and those who live in states where it is not allowed.
For instance, 20% of adults in states where abortion is legal say it would be difficult to get an abortion where they live, but this share rises to 71% among adults in states where abortion is prohibited.
Medication abortion
Americans say medication abortion should be legal rather than illegal by a margin of more than two-to-one (54% vs. 20%). A quarter say they are not sure.
Like opinions on the legality of abortion overall, partisans differ greatly in their views of medication abortion:
- Republicans are closely split but are slightly more likely to say it should be legal (37%) than illegal (32%). Another 30% aren’t sure.
- Democrats (73%) overwhelmingly say medication abortion should be legal. Just 8% say it should be illegal, while 19% are not sure.
Across most other demographic groups, Americans are generally more supportive than not of medication abortion.
Across demographic groups, support for abortion access has changed little since this time last year.
Today, roughly six-in-ten (63%) say abortion should be legal in all (25%) or most (38%) cases. And 36% say it should be illegal in all (8%) or most (28%) cases.
While differences are only modest by gender, other groups vary more widely in their views.
Race and ethnicity
Support for legal abortion is higher among Black (73%) and Asian (76%) adults compared with White (60%) and Hispanic (59%) adults.
Compared with older Americans, adults under 30 are particularly likely to say abortion should be legal: 76% say this, versus about six-in-ten among other age groups.
Those with higher levels of formal education express greater support for legal abortion than those with lower levels of educational attainment.
About two-thirds of Americans with a bachelor’s degree or more education (68%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, compared with six-in-ten among those without a degree.
White evangelical Protestants are about three times as likely to say abortion should be illegal (73%) as they are to say it should be legal (25%).
By contrast, majorities of White nonevangelical Protestants (64%), Black Protestants (71%) and Catholics (59%) say abortion should be legal. And religiously unaffiliated Americans are especially likely to say abortion should be legal (86% say this).
Partisanship and ideology
Democrats (85%) are about twice as likely as Republicans (41%) to say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
But while more conservative Republicans say abortion should be illegal (76%) than legal (27%), the reverse is true for moderate and liberal Republicans (67% say legal, 31% say illegal).
By comparison, a clear majority of conservative and moderate Democrats (76%) say abortion should be legal, with liberal Democrats (96%) overwhelmingly saying this.
Views of abortion access by state
About six-in-ten Americans (58%) say it would be easy for someone to get an abortion in the area where they live, while 39% say it would be difficult.
This marks a slight shift since last year, when 54% said obtaining an abortion would be easy. But Americans are still less likely than before the Dobbs decision to say obtaining an abortion would be easy.
Still, Americans’ views vary widely depending on whether they live in a state that has banned or restricted abortion.
In states that prohibit abortion, Americans are about three times as likely to say it would be difficult to obtain an abortion where they live as they are to say it would be easy (71% vs. 25%). The share saying it would be difficult has risen 19 points since 2019.
In states where abortion is restricted or subject to legal challenges, 51% say it would be difficult to get an abortion where they live. This is similar to the share who said so last year (55%), but higher than the share who said this before the Dobbs decision (38%).
By comparison, just 20% of adults in states where abortion is legal say it would be difficult to get one. This is little changed over the past five years.
Americans’ attitudes about whether it should be easier or harder to get an abortion in the area where they live also varies by geography.
Overall, a decreasing share of Americans say it should be harder to obtain an abortion: 33% said this in 2019, compared with 25% today.
This is particularly true of those in states where abortion is now prohibited or restricted.
In both types of states, the shares of Americans saying it should be easier to obtain an abortion have risen 12 points since before Roe was overturned, as the shares saying it should be harder have gradually declined.
By comparison, changes in views among those living in states where abortion is legal have been more modest.
While Americans overall are more supportive than not of medication abortion (54% say it should be legal, 20% say illegal), there are modest differences in support across groups:
- Younger Americans are somewhat more likely to say medication abortion should be legal than older Americans. While 59% of adults ages 18 to 49 say it should be legal, 48% of those 50 and older say the same.
- Asian adults (66%) are particularly likely to say medication abortion should be legal compared with White (55%), Black (51%) and Hispanic (47%) adults.
- White evangelical Protestants oppose medication abortion by about two-to-one (45% vs. 23%), with White nonevangelicals, Black Protestants, Catholics and religiously unaffiliated adults all being more likely than not to say medication abortion should be legal.
- Republicans are closely divided over medication abortion: 37% say it should be legal while 32% say it should be illegal. But similar to views on abortion access overall, conservative Republicans are more opposed (43% illegal, 27% legal), while moderate and liberals are more supportive (55% legal, 14% illegal).
Just over half of Americans (54%) say “the decision about whether to have an abortion should belong solely to the pregnant woman” describes their views extremely or very well, compared with 19% who say somewhat well and 26% who say not too or not at all well.
Democrats (76%) overwhelmingly say this statement describes their views extremely or very well, with just 8% saying it does not describe their views well.
Republicans are more divided: 44% say it does not describe their views well while 33% say it describes them extremely or very well. Another 22% say it describes them somewhat well.
Fewer Americans (35%) say the statement “human life begins at conception, so an embryo is a person with rights” describes their views extremely or very well. Another 19% say it describes their views somewhat well while 45% say it describes them not too or not at all well.
(The survey asks separately whether “a fetus is a person with rights.” The results are roughly similar: 37% say that statement describes their views extremely or very well.)
Republicans are about three times as likely as Democrats to say “an embryo is a person with rights” describes their views extremely or very well (53% vs. 18%). In turn, Democrats (66%) are far more likely than Republicans (25%) to say it describes their views not too or not at all well.
Some Americans are cross-pressured about abortion
When results on the two statements are combined, 41% of Americans say the statement about a pregnant woman’s right to choose describes their views at least somewhat well , but not the statement about an embryo being a person with rights. About two-in-ten (21%) say the reverse.
But for nearly a third of U.S. adults (32%), both statements describe their views at least somewhat well.
Just 4% of Americans say neither statement describes their views well.
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ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .
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Choose one of the essay topics below, and write a comparison or contrast essay. For the four remaining topics, write a thesis statement for each. 1. Compare or contrast two musical styles, such as classical and contemporary reggae. 2. Compare or contrast two restaurants or clubs. 3.
1. Remember a time when you had a misunderstanding with someone because of miscommunication. This could be something that happened between you and a friend, a roommate, a family member, or someone at school. Write about the situation and the dif erent ways you and the other person understood the situation. 2.
Peay APSU Writing Center Compare/Contrast Essay Organizing your paper: There are many different ways to organize a comparison/contrast essay. Here are two: Subject-by-subject: o Structure: discuss one subject, then discuss the other. Begin by saying everything you have to say about the first subject you are discussing, then move on and make all ...
Step 1 - Students will encounter different kinds of writing assignments; one of the most common is the comparison/contrast essay where the focus is on the ways in which certain things or ideas - usually two of them - are similar to (comparison) and/or different from (contrast) one another. When writing such essays students make ...
Point of Comparison 1: Moral Complexity • Paragraph 1 - Text A: "Tiger Lily is nobly good; Captain Hook is irredeemably bad.". • Paragraph 2 - Text B: "Unlike the moral simplicity of Peter Pan, Mr. Tumnus betrays Lucy, but then makes amends.". Point of Comparison 2: Responsibility • Paragraph 3 - Text A: "Peter is a scamp ...
Recognizing comparison/contrast in assignments Some assignments use words—like compare, contrast, similarities, and differences—that make it easy for you to see that they are asking you to compare and/or contrast. Here are a few hypothetical examples: Compare and contrast Frye's and Bartky's accounts of oppression.
The Compare/Contrast Essay: What It Is and How to Construct One A compare/contrast essay looks at two or more things to find meaningful similarities or differences between them. A comparison explores similarities, and contrasting discusses differences. By analyzing common parts of different things, readers should get a deeper understanding of them.
comparative essay asks that you compare at least two (possibly more) items. These items will differ depending on the assignment. You might be asked to compare. events (e.g., the Great Depression and the global financial crisis of 2008-9) Although the assignment may say "compare," the assumption is that you will consider both the ...
To contrast means to identify the differences. Comparing and contrasting help people evaluate, come to decisions, or make judgments about two or more objects, persons, ideas, places, feelings, etc. Subject 1 different/ unique There are two main patterns of organization for comparison and contrast essays: block and point by point organization.
the results of your comparison (e.g. "Judging by criteria #1, #2, and #3, Thing A is more preferable/radical/effective than Thing B"). There are several ways to organize your ideas in a compare/contrast essay. For instance, you can discuss the two things separately. If you do this, make sure you use the same criteria when discussing each ...
4.1: Introduction to Comparison and Contrast Essay. The key to a good compare-and-contrast essay is to choose two or more subjects that connect in a meaningful way. Comparison and contrast is simply telling how two things are alike or different. The compare-and-contrast essay starts with a thesis that clearly states the two subjects that are to ...
In a compare / contrast essay students have to compare two objects, problems or events and evaluate their similarities and differences. This can be done in three ways: 1. Discuss the similarities between them 2. Discuss the differences between them 3. Discuss the similarities and differences between them Compare or contrast essays are grouped ...
Comparing and Contrasting. This tutorial will give you some guidelines and practice for organizing an essay by comparing— explaining the similarities between things—and/or contrasting— explaining the differences. Although you may not have received an essay assignment that specifically asks you to compare and/or contrast two or more things ...
Making effective comparisons. As the name suggests, comparing and contrasting is about identifying both similarities and differences. You might focus on contrasting quite different subjects or comparing subjects with a lot in common—but there must be some grounds for comparison in the first place. For example, you might contrast French ...
Compare and Contrast Essay Outline Template A. Introduction a. Introduction to the broad topic b. Specific topic c. Thesis statement B. Body Paragraphs a. Body paragraph #1—First aspect that's similar or different i. Subject #1 1. Detail #1 2. Detail #2 ii. Subject #2 1. Detail #1 2. Detail #2 b.
The point of a comparison and contrast essay is to help you see something new about the two things you're comparing. Your thesis, which will usually be at the end of your introduction, will tell your reader what that is. For a college paper, your thesis must not be that "these two things have similarities and differences.".
In a comparison/contrast essay, a writer must do the following: 1) Identify and explain three or more key points that two or more subjects have in common. 2) Show the similarities and differences between these points. 3) Develop a thesis, indicating his or her position regarding the two subjects. The thesis
As you write a compare/contrast essay, consider using the following words to emphasize both your points of comparison and your points of contrast. Comparing: Like Likewise Still Also Again Similarly Similar to In the same way In like manner Compared to At the same time Contrasting: Unlike Yet Compared to Even though In contrast But
C. Paragraph 4 - Reason #3 that is similar or different Topic sentence: _____ 1:_____ 2:_____
Students then read a point-by-point compare and contrast essay and scan it, listing the four points of comparison, which form the main idea of each body paragraph. Exercise B - Answer key. 1. reliability. 3. reputation for safety. 2. driving experience. 4. customers they appeal to.
Transition sentences are smooth. Essay includes introduction and conclusion. Writing is logically and clearly organized. Three similarities and differences are readily identifiable. Writing is somewhat organized. Points are identifiable with minimal reader confusion. Writing is disorganized and hard to follow. OR.
COMPARISON-CONTRAST ESSAY RUBRIC. The paper clearly compares and contrasts points that are sophisticated, offers specific examples to illustrate the comparison, and includes only the information relevant to the comparison. The paper compares and contrasts points clearly, but the supporting information is general, and/or the points are basic.
The paper points to specific examples to illustrate the comparison. The paper includes only the information relevant to the comparison. The paper compares and contrasts items clearly, but the supporting information is general. The paper includes only the information relevant to the comparison. The paper compares and contrasts items clearly, but ...
any type of writing, and many composition classes go so far as to assign a comparison essay - an essay whose main focus is a comparison. Writing a comparison is any time two (or more) things are analyzed for similarities and differences. The term "compare and contrast" can actually be a little misleading, in fact, since contrasting
Nearly two years after the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a national right to abortion, a majority of Americans continue to express support for abortion access. About six-in-ten (63%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. This share has grown 4 percentage points since 2021 - the year prior to ...