Your Turn to Write: Comparison and Contrast Essay

Now it´s time to use comparison/contrast expressions in a longer text. Your task is to compare and contrast automatic pilot (in aircraft) vs. cruise control (in cars) from the listening task in Section 5. To know exactly what to write about, look at the screenshot you took after you finished the listening task. It should provide you with the basic criteria according to which you should compare and contrast the two systems. If you think you need more criteria, feel free to add some.

Your essay should have three main parts: an introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction should inform the reader what the essay is going to be about and serve as an attention-getter to present your topic: you should give general introductory information followed by an explanation of why the topic is interesting or important. You should also provide a clear thesis statement, informing the reader what the essay will be about, which criteria will be used for the comparison, in which order they will be discussed (i.e. how the essay will be structured – see (1) and (2) below), and, if you want, which of the systems you think is more important or better.

The thesis statement for the point-by-point arrangement can be like this: The two systems will be compared and contrasted in terms of ______, ______ and ______. OR: The two systems will be discussed first in terms of  ______, then ______ and finally, ______.

The thesis statement for the block arrangement can be like this: First, the automatic system will be discussed in terms of ______, ______ and ______. Then the cruise control will be discussed using the same criteria.

In the body, compare and contrast the two systems in detail based on the two or three criteria you have chosen. Then write the essay body, choosing one of the following approaches:

Either:

(1) A point-by-point method, i.e. proceeding from one criterion to another, comparing and contrasting the two systems according to one criterion at a time. This means that the number of your body paragraphs will basically be the same as the number of criteria.

Or:

(2) A block method, in which you first talk about all the similarities and then about all the differences of each system. This means that the number of body paragraphs should be at least two: one for each system.

Make sure not to mix the two methods. See the table below to understand the two possible organizations of the essay fully.

In the conclusion section, you should summarize what the essay was about and, if you want, indicate which of the systems is more important/better + give reasons by referring back to the body section.

You should write 350 to 400 words. If you are unhappy about the topic, you can compare and contrast any two technical systems you may wish. For example, you can compare and contrast two types of motor, means of transport, touch screen, printer, power plant, electrical circuit or anything else. Submit your text as a Word document here.