Comparing characters, events and texts

What does it mean to compare and contrast?

When you compare, you tell how things are alike. When you contrast, you tell how things are different.

You already do this every day. You compare two apples to choose the bigger one. You contrast summer and winter when you choose what to wear.

Good readers compare and contrast too. They look at characters, events and whole books side by side.

Why it matters

Comparing and contrasting helps you:

• Understand characters better by seeing what makes each one special.
• Notice patterns, like how many fairy tales have a lesson.
• Think deeply about why authors make different choices.
• Write and talk about books in a clear, organized way.

Comparing characters

To compare characters, think about:

• What they look like
• What they say and do
• How they feel
• What they are like inside, which are their character traits

Example: The Tortoise and the Hare

Alike: Both are animals. Both enter the race. Both want to win.
Different: The tortoise is slow but steady; the hare is fast but lazy.

Comparing events

You can compare events in one story or in two stories.

In The Three Little Pigs:

• Alike: Each pig builds a house. The wolf visits each house.
• Different: The houses are made of straw, sticks and bricks. Only the brick house stays standing.

Ask: Why did the author make the events different? (To show that hard work pays off.)

Comparing two texts

You can also compare two whole books, especially:

• Two versions of the same story. There are many versions of Cinderella from around the world. A version is a different telling of the same story.
• Two books on the same topic. A story about a bear and a fact book about bears.
• Two books by the same author.

Questions to ask:

• Are the characters the same or different?
• Is the setting the same or different?
• Is the problem the same? Is the ending the same?
• Who tells the story? This is the point of view. In The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, the wolf tells his side!

Using a Venn diagram

A Venn diagram is two circles that overlap.

• Write how the first thing is different in the left part.
• Write how the second thing is different in the right part.
• Write how they are the same in the middle, where the circles overlap.

Example for Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood:

• Goldilocks only: visits the bears’ house, tries porridge, chairs and beds.
• Red Riding Hood only: visits Grandma, meets a wolf, carries a basket.
• Both: a girl goes into the woods, meets animals, and gets into trouble.

Signal words

For things that are alike: both, also, too, same, alike, just like, similar.
For things that are different: but, however, different, instead, unlike, on the other hand.

Both stories have a wolf. However, in one story the wolf is tricked, but in the other the wolf is not.

How to compare and contrast, step by step

1. Choose two things to compare: two characters, events or books.
2. Pick what to look at: looks, actions, traits, setting, problem, ending.
3. Make a chart or Venn diagram.
4. Fill in what is the same and what is different.
5. Write or say sentences using signal words.

Common mistakes

• Only telling differences. Remember to find how things are alike too.
• Listing tiny details. Focus on important things like traits and events.
• Forgetting signal words. They make your thinking clear to a listener.

Try it yourself

Read these two short stories.

Story A: A little mouse helped a lion escape from a net. The lion thanked the mouse and became its friend.

Story B: A little ant fell into a stream. A dove dropped a leaf, and the ant climbed on it to safety. Later, the ant bit a hunter who was aiming at the dove.

1. How are the two stories alike?
2. How are they different?
3. Write one sentence using both and one using but.

Possible answers: 1. In both stories, a small animal and a bigger animal help each other. 2. In Story A, the small animal helps first; in Story B, the bigger animal helps first. 3. Both stories show that small animals can help big ones. The mouse saves a lion, but the ant saves a dove.

Tip for families

When you read two books on a similar subject, ask, “How were these alike? How were they different?” Drawing a quick Venn diagram on paper makes the thinking visible and fun.

Quick recap

• Compare means find how things are alike; contrast means find how they are different.
• Compare characters by looks, actions, feelings and traits.
• Compare events and whole texts, including different versions of a story.
• Use a Venn diagram to organize your ideas.
• Use signal words like both, also, but and however.