DEVELOP TOPICS BY COMPARISON

Abraham Lincoln was elected President of the United States in 1860. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected President of the United States in 1960. Both Presidents had the legality of their elections contested. Both were directly concerned with the issue of Civil Rights.

Each man was attacked suddenly by an assassin on a Friday, and in the presence of his wife. Each man was shot; in each instance, crowds of people watched the shooting. Lincoln's secretary, named Kennedy, had advised hiim not to go to the theater where the attack occurred. Kennedy's secretary, named Lincoln, had advised him not to go to Dallas, where the attack occurred.

Booth, Lincoln's assassin, was born in 1839. Oswald, Kennedy's assassin, was born in 1939. Both assassins were murdered before they could be brought to trial.

RECOGNIZE THE POWER OF COMPARISON. Comparison is one of the basic ways of thinking we humans beings use to learn new things and to organize or classify the unnaccountable facts and non-facts around us ; the topics in your lesson selection have been developed by the use of comparison. So great is the power of comparison that a particular object which you have never seen before you encounterd it can become regonizalbe on sight: you understand it by comparing it to something you are familiar with.

CONTROL THE DETAILS OF YOUR COMPARISON

There are three steps you should follow when using comparison as a method for giving information to your listener:

1. Make sure your facts are accurate.
2. Make sure you have all the facts you need to accomplish your purpose.
3. Make sure the details you muse make your comparison absolutely clear.

ORGANIZE YOUR COMPARISON TO SUIT YOUR PURPOSE. Any effective comparison is well organized. Emphasize a point by placing it first or last in your comparison, since the minds of your listener/reader is affected most strongly by an opening or a closing statement.

ASSIGNMENT

Practice handling comparsion of several different topics by following these steps: (1) think of a topic; (2) imagine an audeince; (3) decide what you want to emphasize; (4) choose a comparsion "strategy" which helps you make your point most effectively. Using the following examples, write a brief comparison of each.