Compare And Contrast - A Popular Research Method

Compare And Contrast - A Popular Research MethodAs parents of middle school students and a professor of reading comprehension, I always teach a comparison-based literature essay. This is not only because this is the most effective method for reaching your students but also because the comparison is the most successful one.During my lectures on this, I often compare similar texts with different viewpoints to my middle school students. In fact, if you just look at the face of your child as he or she looks at the text, the similarities will be pretty obvious.This is exactly how children read - they look at their parent's text and make a comparison to it, making comparisons to others they know. This is the way they learn! The similarities are there and this is what makes it a compare-and-contrast method.Let me explain. If you compare and contrast a book with another book, the entire book can be explained by simple-to-read examples.If you compare and contrast a book with another book by t he same author, then you have an idea of the overall style and characters. When you compare and contrast a book with a book by the same author and the same book, it is to give a 'snapshot' of the style of writing.Let me explain further. When we read a chapter in a book, we have to read it word for word and it is almost impossible to give a good idea of the style of the author just by reading it word for word.There are several ways to help you find more examples to use in the next paragraphs. Simply look at the pictures in these two letters, they will help you find more examples that will come upin your brainstorming process.