Definition and Examples of Comparison in Composition

Definition and Examples of Comparison in Composition In composition, comparison is a  rhetorical strategy and method of organization in which a writer examines similarities and/or differences between two people, places, ideas, or things.Words and phrases that often signal a comparison include similarly, likewise, by comparison, by the same token, in like manner, in the same way, and in a similar fashion. Comparison (often referred to as comparison and contrast) is one of the classical rhetorical exercises known as the  progymnasmata. Comparison/Contrast Essays A Brother of St. Francis, by Grace RhysLaughter, by Joseph AddisonThe Lowest Animal, by Mark TwainLuxuries, by George AdeOf Youth and Age, by Francis BaconOn the Difference Between Wit and Humor, by Charles S. BrooksRed-Bloods and Mollycoddles, by G. Lowes DickinsonTwo Ways of Seeing a River, by Mark TwainWatching Baseball, Playing Softball, by Lubby Juggins Style Scrapbook Comparison in Laurie Lees AppetiteComparison in Sarah Vowells Place Description Etymology From the Latin, compare. Examples and Observations A car is useless in New York, essential everywhere else. The same with good manners.(Mignon McLaughlin, The Complete Neurotics Notebook. Castle Books, 1981)The truth of the matter was, the baby looked very much like a mouse in every way. He was only about two inches high; and he had a mouses sharp nose, a mouses tail, a mouses whiskers, and the pleasant, shy manner of a mouse. Before he was many days old he was not only looking like a mouse but acting like one, toowearing a gray hat and carrying a small cane.(E.B. White, Stuart Little. Harper, 1945)Must a powerful fairy like myself condescend to explain her doings to you who are no better than an ant by comparison, though you think yourself a great king?(Andrew Lang, The Wonderful Sheep. The Blue Fairy Book, 1889)Immigrants in Canada are . . . more culturally similar to the native population than immigrant groups in other nations. Canadian immigrants nationalize at very high rates. They participate in the labor force at rates similar to the native population; their unemployment is lower; their occupational prestige is similar; and their income is the same as the native population.(J.P. Lynch and R.J. Simon, Immigration the World Over. Rowman Littlefield, 2003)establish a clear basis for comparison;make a thorough and specific presentation; andprovide an effective arrangement for the material. Comparison and Contrast EssaysTo gain the most from your use of comparison and contrast, . . . you need to(W.J. Kelly, Strategy and Structure. Allyn and Bacon, 1999)Arranging Details in Comparison and Contrast EssaysOrdering detail in a comparison-contrast essay requires some thought. One possible arrangement is the block pattern whereby all the points about one subject are made (in a block) then all the points about the other subject are made (in a second block). . . .A second possible arrangement for the details of comparison-contrast is the alternating pattern, whereby a point is made for one subject, then for the other. A second point is made for the first subject, then for the other. This alternating pattern continues until all the points are made for both subjects. . . .In general, the block method works better for essays with fewer points of comparison or contrast that are not extensively developed . . ..An alternating pattern is usually a better choice for an essay with many points of comparison and contrast or an essay with extensively developed ideas.(Barbara Fine Clouse, Patterns for a Purpose. McGraw-Hill, 2003) Complaining vs. MoaningVisitors to Britain are rarely able to graspsometimes after decades of residencythe vital distinction its inhabitants make between complaining and moaning. The two activities seem similar, but there is a profound philosophical and practical difference. To complain about something is to express dissatisfaction to someone whom you hold responsible for an unsatisfactory state of affairs; to moan is to express the same thing to someone other than the person responsible. The British are powerfully embarrassed by complaining, and experience an almost physical recoil from people who do it in public. They do love to moan though. The background music of British life is a running aria of moaning about pretty much everythingour weather, our politics, our permanently under-performing national sports teams, our reality-TV-obsessed media, and so on. Moaning, a source of entertainment in its own right, is also an important psychic comfort blanket, a way of venting resentment without taking responsibility for effecting change.(John Lanchester, Party Games. The New Yorker, June 7, 2010) European Football vs. American FootballAlthough European football is the parent of American football, the two games show several major differences. European football, sometimes called association football or soccer, is played in more than 80 countries, making it the most widely played sport in the world. American football, on the other hand, is popular only in the United States and Canada. Soccer is played by 11 players with a round ball. Football, also played by 11 players in somewhat different positions on the field, uses an elongated round ball. Soccer has little body contact between players, and therefore requires no special protective equipment. Football, in which players make maximum use of body contact to block a running ball carrier and his teammates, requires special headgear and padding. In soccer, the ball is advanced toward the goal by kicking it or by butting it with the head. In football, on the other hand, the ball is passed from hand to hand across the opponents goal. These are just a few of the features that distinguish association and American football.(student paragraph, Football and Soccer) A Sexist Interlude by Bill Bryson: Women vs. Men at the Checkout CounterAlthough the store had only just opened, the food hall was busy and there were long queues at the tills. I took a place in a line behind eight other shoppers. They were all women and they all did the same mystifying thing: They acted surprised when it came time to pay. This is something that has been puzzling me for years. Women will stand there watching their items being rung up, and then when the till lady says, Thats four pounds twenty, love, or whatever, they suddenly look as if theyve never done this sort of thing before. They go Oh! and start rooting in a flustered fashion in their handbag for their purse or checkbook, as if no one had told them that this might happen.Men, for all their many shortcomings, like washing large pieces of oily machinery in the kitchen sink or forgetting that a painted door stays wet for more than thirty seconds, are generally pretty good when it comes to paying. They spend their time in line doing a wallet inventory and sorting through their coins. When the till person announces the bill, they immediately hand over an approximately correct amount of money, keep their hands extended for the change however long it takes or however foolish they may begin to look if there is, say, a problem with the till roll, and thenmark thispocket their change as they walk away instead of deciding that now is the time to search for the car keys and reorganize six months worth of receipts.(Bill Bryson, Notes From a Small Island. William Morrow, 1995 Pronunciation: kom-PAR-eh-son Also Known As: comparison and contrast

Original purpose Essays

Original purpose Essays Original purpose Essay Original purpose Essay In this article, the author highlights some of the major problems facing humanity today. Poverty according to him is among the very top followed by the struggle for human rights, the guarantee against arbitrary arrest and mutilation and murder. The author talks about the fact that politicians generally end up cutting expenditures which affect the poor because they have no regard for these people and have no concern for the hunger and the suffering they have to go through. The article also touches upon Marxism and reveals the authors Marxist upbringing. He is very vocal about the causes that need to be focused upon such as providing work for the jobless, raising the standard of the homeless, preventing the poisoning of the atmosphere and the degradation of the environment and to overall improve the circumstances people live in. He also talks about his opposition organizations and institutions taking on official positions on critical public issues. His reason for this opposition is that it imperils the organization or institution and impedes pursuit of its original purpose. Moreover, if members of the institution or organization have different opinion from the official positions it reduces their ability to promote the exercise of professional activities. This is all the more true for educational institutions since involvement in external issues becomes a threat to academic freedom. While the general opinion is that because educational institutions are repositories of wisdom, they should speak out in times of crisis and on issues which are important to the public. However, history does not support this conclusion. At the onset of the Nazi regime, German universities chose to speak out but the position that they took on wasnt what was expected of them. Overall, the author is opposed to all forms of political activities by universities and professional organizations. He is also of the opinion that educational institutions should be entitled to act on behalf of academic freedom whenever and wherever it is threatened as long as such action does not hamper its ability to function. The article also talks about modern approaches for economic analysis. According to the author there is sometimes no real need to come up with complicated economic models to explain old concepts merely for added realism. He believes that a well designed model ahs the ability to work effectively as long is the model is based on the trade-ff between accuracy of representation of reality and usability in analysis. If and when a new model is proposed, it should lead to oversimplification rather than end up being a painstaking attempt to complicate an already available model. The author has two key conclusions related to this aspect. First, increased realism is not necessarily a virtue. If it complicates an already existing model it is actually a moral sin. Second, a particular model can neither be judged good or bad in the abstract sense. A models effectiveness can only be judged at the time of analysis. A model may be suited for the analysis of one issue but may be ill-suited for another. Another important point highlighted in this article is the value of pure economic research. While additions to the state of knowledge is always valuable and should contribute to the improvement of the state of social welfare, research in its truest form is always useful because it helps reduce the degree of ignorance. In fact, it is sometimes the purest of research which ultimately makes the greatest contribution to social welfare. However, caution should be exercised when engaging in abstract research before hastening to apply its results to complex issues. Overall, this is an extremely interesting article and presents a different outlook to several issues such as economic research, modern economic models, the role of professional organizations and educational institutions with respect to critical public issues as well as the need to address some of the major problems facing humanity today. Bibliography 1. Baumol, William J. (1993) From the book Eminent Economists: Their Life Philosophies By Michael Szenberg. Published by Cambridge University Press

Midterm Exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Midterm Exam - Essay Example It led to a hostile response to certain policies and the intent reaction against the reform enthusiasm of the Progressive Era. Diplomats and Politicians argued in reference to the peace treaties and the entry of America in the League of Nations, which at the point did not work due to the isolationist opinion that had dominated (Norton 623). On the other hand, the progressive era in America was dominated by reforms in politics and social activism. Its main agenda was to purify the government by bringing to light those political figures that were involved in major corruption. Through this era, there were major reforms in the government, finance, industry and other areas. For example, there was the ‘nineteenth Amendment of 1920 that guaranteed female suffrage a reform that was essential in ensuring that enough votes had been consolidated from them especially then that women had been allowed to vote in all the 48 states. (Norton 624) Essentially, around 1919, there were chief strik es in the meatpacking and steel industries and large –scale race riots that were witnessed in Chicago and other cities. Wall streets had terrorist attacks, which culminated to fears of radicals and terrorists. For example, the community of German and the Irish Catholic community were disappointed in the foreign policy that had been brought up by the democratic president Wilson leading to a critical weakening of his political position especially after he was said to have suffered from a severe stroke. Thus, it was evident that the presidential elections came as a referendum that was meant to go against the progressive era, which basically fought for the right on most of the citizens in America (Norton 625). In 1920 many Americans were exhausted of war, and the constant attempts to have reforms including the passing of moral legislation. It is at about this time that Harding came up with a policy of returning things to normalcy, which he attempted to capitalize on so as to curb the feelings of the populist. Essay Two Explain in detail the differences between President Franklin Roosevelt’s First and Second Newdeals. What did each focus on and why or why not do you feel they were successful? During the campaigns for the presidency, Franklin .D. Roosevelt promised the people of the United States of America ‘New Deal’ due to the economic depression that was witnessed. Hence, there was a dire need to end the depression as the most important political issue. As soon as he was voted in as a democrat Roosevelt, a former governor of the New York had two deals (Norton 745). The first new deal was the reverse of the financial system of America, institute relief programs, as well as, the crisis that had been witnessed in agriculture and industry. Essentially, the Democratic Party under the leadership of Roosevelt provided relief food for the poor, and gave a balance to the traditional policies of the federal budget, supported the gold standard and led to the reduction of the size of the government. This new deal was successful because it gave direct payment to the poor and unemployed, and there was the revival of manufacturing which contributed to the end of the depression (Norton 746). The second new deal was dominated by the continuation of the