Comparing and Contrasting Characters while Reading
Comparing and Contrasting Characters while Reading
When you read a story, you often meet many different characters. Sometimes those characters have a lot in common. Sometimes they are very different. By comparing and contrasting the characters, you can learn more about the characters and learn more about what is going on in the story.
When you compare and contrast characters you look at a few different things:
- What the characters say
- What the characters do
- What the characters look like
- What others think about the characters
- How the characters feel
Read the short paragraph below:
Doug and Dale were twin brothers. They looked alike and they dressed alike, but there many ways in which they were not alike.
Doug was very sneaky and he loved to play tricks on people. His favorite trick was to pretend he was Dale and see if Dale's friends could figure it out.
"We don't like Doug very much," Dale's friends said. "He is always playing tricks on us and that makes us feel bad."
Dale didn't like it when Doug played tricks either. He was a nice kid who really liked his friends. He didn't want them to feel bad.
Dale decided he'd had enough of Doug's tricks. He went up to Doug and said, "Would you please stop pretending to be? It confuses my friends and it upsets me."
Doug looked at Dale and laughed. "If they were your true friends, they could figure it out."
Despite Dale's wishes, Doug kept playing tricks on Dale's friends.
Let's compare and contrast the two characters.
How are Doug and Dale alike?
They both look alike. They also both dress alike. We know they look so much alike that even Dale's friends can't tell them apart.
How are Doug and Dale different?
Doug is tricky and not very nice. Dale's friends do not like him.
Dale is much nicer and has a lot of friends. He is concerned about how his friends feel.
What can you learn from comparing and contrasting the two characters?
By comparing and contrasting Doug and Dale, you learn more about each character. Even though Doug and Dale are twins, they have very different personalities. Next time you read about Doug and Dale, you may be able to predict what will happen because you took the time to get to know them.
The practice questions and worksheet below will help you learn more about comparing and contrasting characters.
Related Worksheets:
Related Lessons:
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