Reading Comprehension Success in 20 Minutes a Day, 3rd Edition

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S I M I L A R I T I E S A N D D I F F E R E N C E S : C O M PA R E A N D C O N T R A S T
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6 9

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Structure
Now look more closely at the sample paragraph to
examine its structure. Exactly how is this paragraph
organized?
First, you’ve noticed that the paragraph begins
with a topic sentence that makes the initial comparison:
“Gardeners are like parents.” Then, the paragraph iden-
tifies four ways in which gardeners are like parents:
1. Plants become dependent upon gardeners as
children do on parents.
2. Plants require care from their gardeners as chil-
dren do from parents.
3. Gardeners clean up after their plants as parents
do after children.
4. Gardeners protect plants from “dangers” as par-
ents protect children.
Finally, after pointing out these similarities, the
paragraph concludes by pointing out an important
difference between parents and gardeners:
1. A gardener’s responsibility for his or her plants
ends with time while a parent’s doesn’t.
Perhaps you noticed something else in the way
this paragraph is organized. Did you notice that every
time the paragraph mentions something about a par-
ent’s role, it also mentions something about a gar-
dener? Each aspect of the gardener’s role is followed by
a comparable aspect of the parent’s role. Thus, for
every aspect of “A” (the gardener), the paragraph pro-
vides a comparable aspect of “B” (the parent) to com-
pare or contrast. The paragraph is therefore organized
like this: ABABABABAB.
This is called the point-by-point method of com-
parison and contrast. Each aspect of A discussed is
immediately paired with that aspect of B (being
dependent, requiring care, cleaning up, and protecting).
On the other hand, some writers prefer to deal
first with all aspects of A and then with all aspects of B.
This is called the block method of comparison and con-
trast; it goes AAAAABBBBB. Here is the same para-
graph arranged using the block method:
Planting a garden is a lot like having a family. A
plant becomes dependent on the gardener and
begs for water on a hot summer day. Gardeners
also have to clean up the space around their plants
as they shed spent petals, as they require pruning,
and as they become choked with weeds. Garden-
ers also provide for the health of their plants
through insecticide and fertilizer applications. A
gardener’s responsibility for his or her plants
lessens as they die at the end of the season or they
go into winter dormancy.
Like a gardener, a parent finds their children
dependent upon them for food and nourishment.
Like a gardener, a parent is constantly picking up
after their children, as toys and clothes are scattered
throughout the house. Like a gardener, a parent pro-
vides for the nourishment and well-being of their
children with vitamin supplements, food, and med-
icines. However, unlike gardeners, parents will find
that their responsibility lessens as the child grows,
but it does not come to an end.
Here, the passage treats each of the things being
compared and contrasted separately—first, all aspects
of the gardener, then all aspects of the parent—rather
than one aspect of the gardener, one of the parent;
another of the gardener, another of the parent. So the
organization is quite different.
But you should notice one thing that is similar in
both passages: They compare and contrast aspects of A
and B that are comparable or parallel. When an aspect of
A is discussed, that same aspect of B (whether similar
to or different from A) must be discussed. This corre-
spondence of parts is essential for the compare and
contrast technique. Look what happens, for example,
when the writer does not discuss corresponding parts: