Focus on Genre: Organization of Ideas
Comparison and Contrast
Writers want readers to understand their ideas. So they organize their ideas in clear, logical ways. If you pay attention to the organization, it will help you follow the writer’s ideas.
How It Works
Before you read, preview the text to see what it is about. This will often give you a clue to the organization.
Comparison and Contrast Sometimes writers want to compare and contrast things, or show how things are alike and different. They organize the text in a way that makes the similarities and differences clear. Read the example and look for signal words that set up the comparison.
I like my new neighborhood. I am beginning to feel at home. In my old neighborhood, we didn’t have an outdoor basketball court. But my new school has one. I think I’ll have to learn chess, though. Unlike the kids in my old neighborhood, the kids here really love it.
Another difference here is that the kids don’t have to be home for dinner. My parents want me home by six o’clock. This is hard. Like most kids, I like to play sports at night.
One similar thing about my new and my old neighborhoods is that both have gingko trees. Grandfather told me that gingko trees grow in China, where he grew up. It is like having a piece of his homeland, he said. I feel the same way. For me, it is like having a piece of my old neighborhood.
I play basketball in my new neighborhood.