DEVELOPMENT BY CONTRAST.

 
     When you develop a paragraph by contrast, you are showing how two (or more) things are different.  This “development” is more complex than the former (comparison).  With contrast, you have two ways to write–by “alternating”, and by “block”. 
 
     “Alternating” looks like this: TS–A1–B1–A2–B2–A3–B3–A4–B4–A5–B5–CS. 
 
     “Block” looks like this: TS–A1–A2–A3–A4–A5–B1–B2–B3–B4–B5–CS. 
 
     Notice that these paragraphs are longer than the other paragraph types. 
 
     In this section, we will do the same topic twice (once in “alternating”, and once in “block”), so that you can examine the two together.  We will discuss how the north of China is different from the south of China. 
        
Development by:    Contrast (“Alternating”). 
Written by:    SVW. 
 
Topic:    Differences between northern China, and southern China. 
Title:    “How the north of China is different from the south of China.” 
Brainstorming:    (#1) Weather–(#3) clothing–landscapes–(#5) soil–history–(#2) diet– leaders–cooking practices–houses–heating–(#4) buildings–rainfall–transportation.      
 
     Choose: weather–diet–clothing–buildings–soil. 
 
Plan outline:   
     [TS]    North, south / different. 
     [A1]    North, weather: cold, dry. 
     [B1]    South, weather: warm, wet. 
     [A2]    North, diet: wheat-based (noodles). 
     [B2]    South, diet: rice-based (cooked rice). 
     [A3]    North, clothing: thick in winter, thin in summer. 
     [B3]    South, clothing: medium in winter, very thin in summer. 
     [A4]    North, buildings: thick walls, keep in heat. 
     [B4]    South, buildings: wide roofs, keep out sun. 
     [A5]    North, soil:  “yellow”. 
     [B5]    South, soil:  “red”. 
     [CS]    Others / main ones. 
 
Paragraph Text:  
 
     [TS]    There are many differences between the north and the south of China. 
     [A1]    In northern China, the weather is typically dry; it is very cold in winter, and fairly hot in summer. 
     [B1]    In southern China, the weather is usually humid; it is cool in winter, and very hot in summer. 
     [A2]    The people in the north follow a wheat-based diet, eating foods such as noodles and dumplings. 
     [B2]    The people in the south have a rice-based diet, and they like to eat staples such as cooked rice and rice-noodles. 
     [A3]    The people who live in the north wear thick clothing in the winter, and light clothing in the summer. 
     [B3]    The people who live in the south wear slightly heavier clothing in the winter, and very light clothing in the summer. 
     [A4]    In the north, the buildings have thick walls, so as to keep the heat in and the cold out in winter. 
     [B4]    In the south, the buildings have wide and overhanging roofs, so as to shade the house from the hot summer sun. 
     [A5]    In the north, the soil is often “yellow”; it is called “loess”, and it is from this soil that the Yellow River gets its name. 
     [B5]     In the south, the soil is often red; this soil is very distinctive during ploughing season, when it is exposed. 
     [CS]    There are many other differences between the north and the south of China, and they cover many areas of geography and human culture; these are some of the main differences, which are readily observable. 
 
Development by:    Contrast (“Block”). 
Written by:    SVW. 
Topic:    Differences between northern China, and southern China. 
Title:    “How the north of China is different from the south of China.” 
Brainstorming:   (#1) Weather–(#3) clothing–landscapes–(#5) soil–history–(#2) diet– leaders–cooking practices–houses–heating–(#4) buildings–rainfall–transportation.      
 
     Choose: weather–diet–clothing–buildings–soil. 
 
Plan outline:   
     [TS]    North, south / different. 
     [A1]    North, weather: cold, dry. 
     [A2]    North, diet: wheat-based (noodles). 
     [A3]    North, clothing: thick in winter, thin in summer. 
     [A4]    North, buildings: thick walls, keep in heat. 
     [A5]    North, soil: “yellow”. 
     [B1]    South, weather: warm, wet. 
     [B2]    South, diet: rice-based (cooked rice). 
     [B3]    South, clothing: medium in winter, very thin in summer. 
     [B4]    South, buildings: wide roofs, keep out sun. 
     [B5]    South, soil: red. 
     [CS]    Others / main ones. 
 
Paragraph Text:  
     [TS]    There are many differences between the north and the south of China.
     [A1]    In northern China, the weather is typically dry; it is very cold in winter, and fairly hot in summer.
     [A2]    The people in the north follow a wheat-based diet, eating foods such as noodles and dumplings.
     [A3]    The people who live in the north wear thick clothing in the winter, and light clothing in the summer.
     [A4]    In the north, the buildings have thick walls, so as to keep the heat in and the cold out in winter.
     [A5]    In the north, the soil is often “yellow”; it is called “loess”, and it is from this soil that the Yellow River gets its name. 
     [B1]    In southern China, the weather is usually humid; it is cool in winter, and very hot in summer.
     [B2]    The people in the south have a rice-based diet, and they like to eat staples such as cooked rice and rice-noodles.
     [B3]    The people who live in the south wear slightly heavier clothing in the winter, and very light clothing in the summer.
     [B4]    In the south, the buildings have wide and overhanging roofs, so as to shade the house from the hot summer sun.
     [B5]    In the south, the soil is often red; this soil is very distinctive during ploughing season, when it is exposed.
     [CS]    There are many other differences between the north and the south of China, and they cover many areas of geography and human culture; these are some of the main differences, which are readily observable.
 
     In order too keep this (longer) type of paragraph well structured and interesting, please do the following.  First, write out your plan very carefully.  In this type of paragraph writing, you are constantly going “back and forth” between two ideas (here, the north, and the south of China); if your writing is not well-structured, you may lose the reader’s attention.  Second, in order to keep this (very repetitive) writing interesting, write down the ideas in very simple English, and only then try to make the language more varied.  You must write the “simple” version first; if you try to make it “well-structured” and “interesting” at the same time, you may trip-up linguistically (I do...). 
 
     This type of paragraph has a lot of parallel structure and thought (since you are now “contrasting” two things).  Parallel language, when well-done, is very beautiful; with a little thought, you can do it too, and come up with interesting results.  The best example to follow, in terms of “parallel thought / parallel language”, is Winston Churchill: go and study his great WW2 speeches, and look at how he uses parallel language, and how very beautiful it is.  In this above example, I have not “polished” the language, in terms of “parallel thought”.  What would you do? 
 
     One other thing.  When you are choosing a topic, please choose a topic that has many ideas, as you will reject most of the ideas, and choose five strong ones.  It may be that you do not like the topic, but if it has many ideas, it is much better than a topic that you like, but which has few ideas.