Comparing texts

Comparing texts means reading two texts on the same subject and explaining how they are alike and how they are different: what the writers say, how they feel and the methods they use to get their ideas across.

Key facts

  • Start with what the texts are about and what each writer thinks: are their views the same, or opposite?
  • Compare the tone and attitude: one writer may be enthusiastic, another critical, worried or neutral. The words they choose show it.
  • Compare the purpose: is each text written to inform, to persuade, to describe, to complain or to share an experience?
  • Compare the methods: rhetorical questions, statistics, personal anecdotes, quotations, imagery and a list of three. Say what effect each one has.
  • Use comparing words: for similarities ⟦similarly⟧, ⟦likewise⟧, ⟦both⟧; for differences ⟦however⟧, ⟦whereas⟧, ⟦in contrast⟧, ⟦unlike⟧. Support each point with a short quotation from each text.

Worked examples

Example 1

Text A says a city ⟦hums with life⟧; Text B complains that ⟦music thumps until three⟧. How are the views different?

  1. Text A uses a positive image: the city is alive.
  2. Text B lists problems: the noise keeps people awake.
  3. Join the two points with a word that shows a difference: ⟦but⟧ or ⟦whereas⟧.

Answer: Text A enjoys the busy city, but Text B sees the noise as a problem.

Example 2

Text A uses ⟦92% of parents⟧; Text B tells a story about a tiger in a cage. Which methods are being compared?

  1. A number such as ⟦92%⟧ is a statistic: it makes a view sound like a fact.
  2. A short story from the writer's own life is an anecdote: it makes the reader feel.

Answer: statistics and a personal anecdote

Example 3

Choose the best word: ⟦Text A praises the zoo, ___ Text B attacks it.⟧

  1. The two texts say opposite things.
  2. So the gap needs a word that shows a difference: ⟦whereas⟧.

Answer: ⟦whereas⟧