Compare & Contrast
State how two things, places, people, or experiences are similar (comparison) and how they are different (contrast).
Provide facts, other interpretations, and your own analysis.
1. Identify Your Topic
Identify your topic (be specific) – in most cases, you will have chosen a historical and a more contemporary topic, although this is not required.
What historical event/person are you going to research?
Example: Bill Clinton
What contemporary event/person are you going to compare it to?
Example: Barack Obama
Ideas for a more narrow topic:
Compare & Contrast Bill Clinton and Barack Obama in terms of:
- Public opinion
- Leadership style
- Foreign relations
2. Find info on your historical event/person
3. Find info on your contemporary event/person
You can use ProQuest Newspapers to find:
- Info on your contemporary event/person.
- Articles that draw comparisons between your historical and contemporary events/people. (See box below for an example search.) There is no guarantee there will be articles like this. If you don’t find articles that make the comparisons, then research each topic separately and provide your own analysis.
- ProQuest News and Newspapers This link opens in a new window"Collection of digitized news content, spanning the latest headlines and developments in contemporary politics, culture, health and technology, to historical coverage of important (and sometimes forgotten) people, places and events dating back to the 1700s." -ProQuest
ProQuest Newspapers Sample Search
