2. Academic (formal) Style: Avoid using “I”, “We”, “You”, too much (although it is okay to use these terms sometimes when you’re using your personal example to support your points). If you focus too much on how YOUR/OUR family/parents are different/similar to others, then you end up writing personal stories (narration paragraph) instead of comparison paragraph.
3. Using source: You are REQUIRED to use the source article in your essay and put the citation information in the text and at the end by adding “references”list.
Note: How to cite the source article (we'll learn more in the next two weeks)
- In-text: According to Frost (2012)..., As Frost (2012) mentioned in her article "....",
- At the end of the paragraph: Frost, P. (2012). "Article title" Retrieved from...URL...
4. One more tip: If you are using, point-by-point structure, you must first introduce on which point you want to compare the two subjects (I call this “point statement”.)
Example 1 - Okay
College life in China and America is entirely different. In China, it is very easy to make friends because people always have a lot of things to talk about since they have same culture background and live in relatively same environment. In the USA, however, making friends seems to be a little bit harder. Due to many differences and language barrier among students, students may not find much chance to know each other and be good friends. Also, food is another issue that shows difference. In China, we can easily eat delicious food in the dining hall. However, in the USA, we are unfamiliar with the food and may not get accustomed to it in the beginning. In addition, studying in the USA means that we have to leave parents and friends and be independent. In China, it is easy to keep in touch with family and friends while in the USA we can only see the once a year. There are many differences between Chinese College life and American College life and it is very important for international students to get used to the new environment.
Example 2 - Great
College requires students to have more abilities than high school, such as responsibility, socializing, and specializing in certain areas. First, college students have to be much more responsible than high school students. In high school, students should follow school’s rule whereas in college, students make decisions by themselves. Most of the classes are arranged for high school students, and their classes are held during daytime. However, college students can arrange their own schedule, and class time may vary throughout day and night. Second, socializing in college and in high school differ in the purpose for which students make friends. In high school, students socialize to be friends, but in college, students often socialize with people in same major or fields to do networking. Unlike in high school, making connections is very important in college because those connections could help them in the future when they get a job or need an advice. Lastly, college students choose their major and classes by their specialized skills. In high school, students learn basic materials in every field. On the other hand, college students have their classes related to their majors or specialized skills. Attending college is an opportunity to develop students’ abilities to be responsible, socialized, and specialized in something that students could not do in high school.
