Definition:
A rhetorical strategy in which a writer examines similarities and/or differences between two people, places, ideas, or things. One of the basic rhetorical exercises known as the progymnasmata. See also:
- Essay Topics: Comparison & Contrast
- Watching Baseball, Playing Softball
- Comparison in Sarah Vowell's Place Description
- Contrast in Rybczynski's "Home"
- "Laughter," by Joseph Addison
- Jean Shepherd's Use of Contrast and Hyperbole
- "Two Ways of Seeing a River," by Mark Twain
Examples:
From the Latin, "compare"Examples and Observations:
- "I'm stupid. You're smart. I was wrong. You were right. You're the best. I'm the worst. You're very good looking. I'm not very attractive."
(Happy Gilmore, played by Adam Sandler, in the movie Happy Gilmore, 1996) - "Although 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 opponent's goal. These are just a few of the features that distinguish association and American football."
(student paragraph, "Football and Soccer")
Pronunciation: kom-PAR-eh-son
Also Known As: comparison and contrast
