1. TWO DIFFERENT PATHS TO THE SAME GOAL Organizing a Compare / Contrast essay

2. “point-by-point” organization POINT-BY-POINT organization means that you will organize your compare / contrast essay something like this: I. Introduction / Thesis II. Point of similarity or difference a. topic A fact & significance b. topic B fact & significance III. 2 nd point of similarity or difference a. topic A fact & significance b. topic B fact & significance IV. 3 rd point of similarity or difference a. topic A fact & significance b. topic B fact & significance V. Conclusion This is the classic “five paragraph essay.” Yours might be a little longer, if you choose to add an extra point of comparison / contrast. Remember, you must explain WHY each fact was important in your decision-making process (the “significance”)!

3. “Block” organization BLOCK organization means that you will organize your compare / contrast essay something like this: I. Introduction / Thesis II. Topic A a. fact & significance b. fact & significance c. fact & significance III. Topic B a. fact & significance b. fact & significance c. fact & significance IV. Conclusion Note that your essay will probably be four paragraphs in length instead of five, but each paragraph will be longer than in a point-by-point organization pattern. Either way, your essay ends up being about the same length. You may include more than 3 facts per body paragraph.

4. Ordering your Points One question you might still have is … “In what order should I put my points?” The answer depends a little bit on which organizational pattern you choose. In a BLOCK pattern essay—which will probably have 2 body paragraphs—you might want to begin with the college or career that you DO NOT plan to pursue (but make sure you address WHY you even considered pursuing it), and then lead to the one you DO plan to pursue.

5. Ordering your Points In a POINT-BY-POINT pattern, you have a few more options. You might consider putting your points in the order of importance … Of your 3 points, which was least influential in making your decision? Which was most influential?

6. Ordering your Points You might start with the least influential point and build up to the most influential (this probably makes the most sense for this topic) … Or you could flip that order and start off with the most influential factor and move down to the least. You don’t HAVE to follow a least-to-most or most-to-least significant pattern IF there’s something else that seems to make more sense to you (and to your reader—ask someone else if it makes sense to them).

7. GETTING THINGS STARTED Intro paragraph

8. To get started, let’s look at an introduction paragraph that we’ve seen before.

9. Intro paragraph Maya Angelou is an accomplished African- American author in the United States. While growing up, she suffered tremendous hardship. Some of her most difficult life events are portrayed in novels and poems such as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Still I Rise. Her written works often include strong themes such as perseverance through trials, love for family, and passionate optimism. The first paragraph introduces the general topic and gradually becomes more specific.

10. Intro Paragraph Maya Angelou is an accomplished African- American author in the United States. While growing up, she suffered tremendous hardship. Some of her most difficult life events are portrayed in novels and poems such as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Still I Rise. Her written works often include strong themes such as perseverance through trials, love for family, and passionate optimism. Maya Angelou is the very general topic of the essay.

11. Intro paragraph Maya Angelou is an accomplished African- American author in the United States. While growing up, she suffered tremendous hardship. Some of her most difficult life events are portrayed in novels and poems such as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and “Still I Rise.” Her written works often include strong themes such as perseverance through trials, love for family, and passionate optimism. The next sentence provides a detail about her.

12. Intro paragraph Maya Angelou is an accomplished African- American author in the United States. While growing up, she suffered tremendous hardship. Some of her most difficult life events are portrayed in novels and poems such as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and “Still I Rise.” Her written works often include strong themes such as perseverance through trials, love for family, and passionate optimism. Giving the names of two of her major books makes the intro a little more specific.

13. Intro paragraph Maya Angelou is an accomplished African- American author in the United States. While growing up, she suffered tremendous hardship. Some of her most difficult life events are portrayed in novels and poems such as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and “Still I Rise.” Her written works often include strong themes such as perseverance through trials, love for family, and passionate optimism. The thesis statement gives the specific topic (Maya Angelou’s themes) and the sub-points used to explain it.

14. Intro paragraph  Now let’s apply this to the compare / contrast essay assignment.  The big topic of this essay is about your future, and the decisions you have to make to get there—THAT’S what your first sentence should be about.  Your first sentence should not mention anything about specific colleges or careers.

15. Intro paragraph  The second sentence can introduce the big idea of COLLEGE or the big idea of CAREERS. Still, DO NOT name your two colleges or careers.  The third sentence names those two topics (think about the Maya Angelou paragraph).  The fourth sentence is your thesis statement, which you should have already written on your outline.

16. Intro paragraph  Sometimes students are taught to start an essay with a question. That is acceptable as long as the question does NOT contain any form of the word “you.”  You can also begin with a personal story. Is there someone who inspired you to pursue a particular career? Are you the first in your family to attend college? Is there a family tradition of attending a certain college? That can be an interesting way to begin.  You can also start with a quotation. HOWEVER, you must follow two rules:  1. You must give some context … who said this quote. What was the situation?  2. Do not EVER—EVER—quote from the dictionary (Webster’s Dictionary defines success as …)

17. BUILDNG A “SANDWICH” Body paragraphs

18.  Just as an essay has an intro, body, and conclusion, so does a well-structured body paragraph. Think of a body paragraph as a sandwich.  The topic sentence and concluding sentence are the “bread” that hold the whole thing together.  The facts from your research are the “meat.”  Your commentary / opinions / explanations about the facts are the cheese, lettuce, or pickles.  Transition words—words that signal that you’re moving to a new idea or show how ideas are related—are like the mayo and mustard. They hold the whole thing together.

19. Body paragraphs  TOPIC SENTENCE: Begin your body paragraph with a general sentence about your topic. DO NOT begin with a specific fact from your outline!  A sample topic sentence might be something like … One college I have considered attending is … (BLOCK pattern) OR Since I will have to pay my own way through college, tuition was one of the factors that I had to consider while deciding which school to attend. (POINT-BY-POINT pattern)

20. Body paragraphs  BODY SENTENCES: Sentence about fact “a.” Cite your source (more on this in a minute).  Commentary about fact “a.” Why is this fact important? If it isn’t, why not?  Sentence about fact “b.”  Commentary about fact “b.” Why is this fact important. If you are following the POINT-BY-POINT organization pattern, explain how the similarity between the two schools / careers made the decision difficult, or how the difference between the two schools / careers influenced your decision making.

21. Body paragraphs  BODY SENTENCES: Sentence about fact “a.” Cite your source (more on this in a minute).  Commentary about fact “a.” Why is this fact important? If it isn’t, why not?  Sentence about fact “b.”  Commentary about fact “b.” Why is this fact important.  IF YOU ARE FOLLOWING BLOCK PATTERN, add a sentence about fact “c.”  Commentary about fact “c” and general commentary about how all of the points you’ve covered influenced your choice about that college / career.

22. Body paragraphs  CONCLUSION SENTENCE: Too many students forget to add a concluding sentence at the end of their body paragraphs. The concluding sentence sums up the main point of the paragraph and prepares the reader to move on to the next main point.  A sample concluding sentence might be … While college A has many benefits to offer me, it was not the only university I considered attending. (BLOCK pattern) OR Tuition was just one of the factors that I considered while making plans for my post-high school education. (POINT-BY-POINT pattern).

23. PLAGIARISM PREVENTION 101 Parenthetical Citation

24. Parenthetical citation  Parenthetical citation is a reference in the text of your paper to the original source of the material.  You will place it in parentheses at the end of the sentence in which you included the fact.  QUESTION: What does a writer include in the parenthetical citation?  ANSWER: That depends on what information you have about the original source of the information.

25. Parenthetical citation  If you know the name of the author, you will place the last name only in parentheses at the end of the sentence. The period goes AFTER the parentheses.

26. FOR EXAMPLE, the careerplanning.about.com website provided the author’s name for each article.

27. Parenthetical citation IIf you know the name of the author, you will place the last name only in parentheses at the end of the sentence. The period goes AFTER the parentheses. IIn this case, the student’s citation would look like this: Student sentence including fact (McKay). HHowever, may websites, do NOT give the author’s name.

28. FOR EXAMPLE, the articles on the BLS.gov website did not provide an author’s name. The Works Cited entry begins with the title of the article

29. Parenthetical citation  In this case, the student uses the title of the article (in quotation marks) in the parentheses.  The student’s citation would look like this: Student sentence including fact (“High School Teachers”).  NOTE: If the information came from a printed source (a book, for example), the student must also include the page number.

30. Parenthetical citation  If a source is listed on the Works Cited page, it MUST appear in a citation somewhere in the paper. Otherwise, it must be taken off the Works Cited page.  If a source is cited in the text of the paper, it MUST appear on the Works Cited page.  Get it??

31. HOW TO END IT ALL Conclusion Paragraphs

32. Conclusion paragraphs  Begin with a re-stated thesis. DO NOT use the exact same wording!  TIP: If you ended your original thesis with your sub-points, try starting your revised thesis with the sub-points.  EXAMPLE (original thesis): Even though the University of Kansas has higher tuition, the closer distance to home and the excellent pre- med program make it a better choice for me than the University of Missouri.   REWORDED EXAMPLE: Because the University of Kansas has an excellent pre-med program and is closer to my home, it is the best choice for me, even though the tuition cost is greater than the University of Missouri.

33. Conclusion paragraphs  Review each body paragraph in one sentence.  Finally, comment on the information.  TIP: Look back at the first sentence of your intro paragraph. Refer back to that sentence as you bring your essay to a close.  If you began with a quote, mention it again (don’t quote the whole thing). Possibly use a different quote with the same basic theme.  If you began with a story, refer back to it.  If you asked a question, give an answer