ShmoopTube

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[Dino and Coop singing]

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We make comparisons every day!

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Whether it's comparing the different lunch specials at the cafeteria... [Girl holding a plate]

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Or comparing two different pairs of pants at the mall...

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Making a comparison can be super useful... [Old car on fire next to a new shiny car]

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Even if the choice might seem obvious.

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Seriously, why wouldn't you wear the rainbow polka-dot pants? [Guy choses rainbow pants over jeans]

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That's a no-brainer.

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Another place you'll find yourself making comparisons? [School kids walking off the bus]

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At school!

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Yup, chances are pretty good that one day, you'll find yourself discussing the similarities [Teacher giving a lesson]

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and differences between two works of literature!

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And when it comes to putting this comparison into written words, there are two popular

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ways to do it!

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Let's compare them and see which we like better.

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Eh?

00:49

Eh?

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Compare?

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See what we did there?

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Ahem.

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Anyway.

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The first is the block method. [Coop pointing at a blackboard]

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You start by explaining all the aspects of the first thing you're comparing in one big

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paragraph, or block.

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Then, you explain the same aspects of the second thing in the same order.

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This method works well for fairly complicated material, because it allows readers to easily

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look for and locate information – the first block is about the first thing and the second [The first block is highlighted]

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block about the second thing. [The second block is highlighted]

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Easy peasy. [A pea shouts]

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The other method of comparison is the point-by-point method.

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This is when you write about each aspect in turn.

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So instead of talking about all the aspects of the first thing, and then all the

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aspects of the second thing, you would talk about one aspect of the first thing and the [Hand wipes away the two blocks]

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second thing, then another aspect of the first and second thing, and so on and so forth.

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This is best done on simpler topics, since it can be very useful for making comparisons,

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but it gets a little confusing if your topic is kind of complex.

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Once you've decided on a method, be sure that you're choosing which aspects to compare wisely. [The two different methods next to a kid]

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After all, there are an endless number of ways to compare two things, but only a certain

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number of them will be interesting and helpful!

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For example, if you're comparing two books about Ancient Greece, it might be useful to [The two books next to the kid]

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compare how they discussed religion, but it wouldn't be useful to compare how many times [A tick appears on the comparison]

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each author said the word “the.” [A no sign appears on the comparison]

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…unless you're trying to put yourself to sleep.

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Then by all means, go for it. [Boy asleep in bed]

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But if you want to stay awake, do your best to keep things interesting! [Boy shaking because he's drank 20 cups of coffee]

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So, we're pretty sure you'd drive yourself completely insane if you tried to count the

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number of “the”s in a book… [Boy wrapped in paper and 'the' is written all over the walls]

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For the record, we said it thirty-one times in this video.

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Yes, we counted, and yes, we're completely insane.

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