Library Resources: ENG102: First-Year Composition: Compare/ Contrast

Compare & Contrast

State how two things, places, people, or experiences are similar (comparison) and how they are different (contrast).

Provide facts, other interpretations, and your own analysis.

Venn Diagram circles

Collect Background Research

Use these databases to collect reliable, credible BACKGROUND INFORMATION on your topic.

Gale eBooks (Gale Virtual Reference) This link opens in a new window
Provides access to popular Gale specialized encyclopedias and resources in arts, biography, business, education, environment, history, science, social science and more. PROVIDES WORD and PAGE COUNT for EACH ARTICLE when browsing.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Credo Reference is a full-text online reference service. Our collection includes over three million entries from hundreds of well-regarded titles from some of world's the best reference publishers. Credo’s collection is intelligently integrated with millions of cross-references and contains dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias, quotations and atlases, plus a wide range of subject-specific titles covering everything from art to accountancy, science to Shakespeare and law to literature.

Locate Resources

Issues and Controversies This link opens in a new window
Provides current, in-depth, and objective information on contemporary issues. Coverage begins in 1995. This is the on-line version of the print Issues and Controversies collection on the Contemporary Issues Index table.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Multidisciplinary database with more extensive full text holdings than Academic Search Premier, including over 9,000 full text journals. Includes 459 unique titles (54% of its collection) as compared to current GCC Library databases.

Collect Recent News

Use these databases to find specific EXAMPLES of how your topic impacts people in the real world.

Gale News (formerly Infotrac Newstand) This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to more than 2,300 major U.S., regional, national, and local newspapers as well as leading international titles. It also includes thousands of images, radio and TV broadcasts and transcripts.
Proquest Newspaper Multi-Search This link opens in a new window
This search option searches all the Proquest newspaper databases including Newspaper Core, Arizona Republic, Ethnic Newswatch, and the Historic New York Times.
U.S. Major Dailies This link opens in a new window
Contains both articles and indexing to articles from the country's leading newspapers--Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. Publisher: ProQuest

Choose Two Items for Discussion

Unless your instructor has told you otherwise, focus on just comparisons OR contrasts, not both.

Step 1: Choose two items for discussion
Comparison Essay	Contrast Essay
Compare means to show similarities.	Contrast means to show differences.
Choose two seemingly different items and show how they are similar.	Choose two seemingly similar items and show how they are different.
Examples: Coffee and roller coasters My husband and my cat Bicycle and surfboard	Examples: Ford F150 and Dodge Ram trucks Popeye’s and KFC Twilight book and Twilight Movie

Brainstorm Three Main Points

Step 2: Brainstorm for three main points

Comparison Essay

Contrast Essay

Write down as many ideas as you can about how the two items are similar.

Then, pick out the three best ideas to show the three main ways the two items are similar.

Write down as many ideas as you can about how the two items are different.

Then, pick out the three best ideas to show the three main ways the two items are different.

Draft Thesis Statement

Step 3:Draft Thesis Statement

Comparison Essay

Contrast Essay

Draft a thesis statement that mentions the two items being compared and the three main ways they are similar. For now just get something on paper; you can improve the statement later.

In a pinch, you can use this thesis statement template: Although item Xand item Y seem different, they are actually similar in their 1, 2, and 3.

Draft a thesis statement that mentions the two items being contrasted and the three main ways they are different. For now just get something on paper; you can improve the statement later.

In a pinch, you can use this thesis statement template: Although item Xand item Y seem similar, they are actually different in their 1, 2, and 3.