As noted earlier, you can organize a comparison and contrast essay in one of two ways: point by point or subject by subject. (“Amusing Ourselves to Depth: Is The Onion Our Most Intelligent Newspaper?” is organized point by point; “Dearly Disconnected” which follows, is organized subject by subject.) Suppose you want to compare two houses (house A and house B) built by the same architect for the purpose of evaluating how the architect’s style has changed over time. After brainstorming ideas, you decide to base your essay on these points of comparison: (For more on creating a graphic organizer, see Chapter 3.)

Figure 16.1 shows a graphic organizer for point-by-point organization, in which you go back and forth between the two houses, noting similarities and differences between them on each of the four points of comparison.

Figure 16.2 shows a graphic organizer for subject-by-subject organization, in which you first discuss the layout, size, building materials, and landscaping of house A and then do the same for house B.