Compare+Contrast

Articles and multimedia that compare two or more things can be found daily in The Times, whether it’s via a chart comparing the new iPhone to its rivals, or an architecture review that contrasts the two new baseball stadiums in New York City.

Our [|Venn diagram graphic organizer_]  might come in handy, either for taking notes while reading or for planning your own piece.

Signal Words and Phrases


 * in comparison
 * by contrast
 * similarly
 * but
 * on the other hand
 * on the contrary
 * yet
 * however
 * despite
 * similarly
 * as opposed to

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Times Print Examples

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #666699; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Two New Baseball Palaces, One Stoic, One Scrappy__] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A 2009 architecture review comparing the two new baseball stadiums in New York City, Yankee Stadium and Citi Field.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #666699; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Fire and Ice__] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A recent Op-Ed by Maureen Dowd compares Newt Gingrich with President Obama.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #666699; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|India Ink | Who Wants to Shop in a Big Box Store, Anyway?__] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Let’s compare the American big-box shopping experience to shopping in urban India,” invites this blog post, a particularly simple and clear example of this kind of writing.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #666699; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Obsession, Reignited__] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">An article comparing Stieg Larsson’s novel “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” with the forthcoming film version by David Fincher. (This is just one of many Times examples in which an original literary piece is compared with the film or theatrical version. To find more, use <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #666699; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__Times search__] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> to read about works of literature you’re teaching.)

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Multimedia Examples

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #666699; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Graphic | A Smartphone Face-Off Apple iPhone 4S vs. Samsung Galaxy S II__]

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #666699; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Slide Show | Vamps, Crooks and Killers__] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> to compare with <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #666699; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__A Rogues’ Gallery__]

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #666699; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Graphic | Comparing Internet Speeds Across the Nation__]

Lesson retrieved from: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/compare-contrast-cause-effect-problem-solution-common-text-types-in-the-times/?smid=pl-share__]