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Whenever you combine two or more ideas, indicating their similarities and/or differences, you are explaining by way of comparison and/or contrast. Comparison shows similarities and contrast explains differences. You may use either of two ways to structure comparison and contrast – the BLOCK METHOD, or the ALTERNATING METHOD.

THE BLOCK METHOD (subject by subject)

When using this method, you state the main idea for the comparison and/or contrast in the topic sentence. The following topic sentence houses the main idea for a paragraph developed by contrast:

College is quite different from high school.

Notice that two items will be contrasted: (A) college and (B) high school. To create the body of the paragraph using the block method, a section discussing (A) college should be developed, followed by a section describing (B) high school.

College is quite different from high school. Assignments in college are more difficult. You need to control your time so that all the work can be completed successfully. Also, college is more flexible. You are responsible for taking care of yourself and effectively utilizing your freedom. Creating new friendships is also part of the college experience. On the contrary, in high school the assignments were much less difficult. Furthermore, because of the assigned classes and rigid schedules, you did not have to be concerned about controlling your own time – it was done for you. Also, you would see the same students in your classes throughout each day. If you were asked whether college is preferable to high school, you would probably have to answer "Yes." Even though it is more challenging, college is much more exciting.

The following graphic illustrates the structure of the body of this paragraph:

An important point to consider is that you should signal to the reader that section (A) has been concluded, and that section (B) is about to begin. To accomplish this task, a transitional phrase should be used to allow the reader to proceed from one section to the other. Notice in the paragraph that the underlined transitional phrase, "On the contrary," is used to provide the necessary transition.

ALTERNATING METHOD (Point by Point)

Another way to develop this contrast is by structuring the supporting ideas in the body of the paragraph in an alternating fashion, alternating from (A) to (B) throughout. Note that transitions (underlined) are used to signal movement from one topic to the next.

College is quite different from high school. First, the assignments are more difficult in college than they were in high school. Also, properly controlling freedom in college is a new responsibility since scheduling and class hours were controlled by the high school. Making new friends while still maintaining friendships from high school is another part of the college experience. All in all, if someone were to ask whether college is preferable to high school, you would probably have to answer "Yes." Even though it is more challenging, college is more exciting.

Using the same topic sentence, the following graphic illustrates this alternating method:

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