Compare-Contrast Composition

The San Bernardino Amtrac station* sits outside next to the railroad yard, with a sign on it saying to board " a half a block west." Since it is right on the tracks, there are no blocks, only miles of track stretching west. If a person asks where to purchase a ticket or board the train inside the portable bungalow that serves as the Metrolink office, identifiable only by plastic boxes holding brochures, he is dismissed with an "I don't know," or a wave of the hand: "Oh, out there." Well, yes, one might assume that it does run "out there" on one set of tracks or another, but which one? An open air-platform down the tracks is a disembodied Orange County Mediterranean (Taco Bell Architecture) style gate leading from nowhere to nowhere: people have to cross two sets of tracks to board the metrolink there. The station itself, a domed mission-style building, is still in remarkably good condition, but the external tan walls are covered in layers of soot from the freight trains. Inside the building, the empty lobby walls are covered in the original Spanish-motif tiles, and the floor is covered in large red ceramic tiles. Along one wall is the modernized Amtrac office, and along the other are several vending machines for cold drinks and packaged snacks. The restroom is a reminder of a more congenial past: it has a lobby of its own--a rest room--with a circular bench in the middle. One can almost see well-dressed passengers resting and conversing and calming their children there, but the room is deserted. Comfortable chairs and benches must once have graced its walls, but everything removable has been removed. In the restroom itself, the stalls are separated by large, thick slabs of white marble, real marble. However, inside the marble is marked by recent felt-tip graffiti: "I love Anthony Taylor" and "I love Joe Meriman." Today a yellow Post-It hangs between the two: "Joe and Anthony date girls who they can't take to nice places: they write on the walls." The felt-tip graffiti is a sad commentary on the self-centered lack of awareness of beauty, especially when it is there for everyone to see and appreciate, with no guards to stand vigilantly watching for "any suspicious behavior."

At Union Station, on the other hand, even though it is much more heavily trafficked, in the covered walkways leading to both the Amtrac and the Metrolink, men with walkie-talkies call out to passengers to board, directing passengers down the right halls, and notifying the engineer to wait for late passengers they see running to catch their train. The lobby itself is a graceful reminder of a luxurious past, lovingly and faithfully restored to its luxurious splendor. Even the furnishings are restored. In contrast to the San Bernardino station, one does not have to imagine how it must have looked in the days of commercial train travel. Waiting passengers sit comfortably in wood and leather booth chairs that grace the expansive lobby. People fill the lobby, resting, reading, watching their children, walking in all directions. The large open space of the station with its high domed ceiling absorbs the noise that might be expected from the numbers of people occupying it. It has the feel of a european cathedral. A few pigeons peck scraps from the stone floors, a mosaic of large slabs of semi-precious stone in red, ochre, brown, white, and rust, polished to a high sheen. floor. A well-furnished newsstand sells magazines, books, newspapers, postcards, and sundries. Further down, a bagel shop sells a variety of bagels and fillings, made to order, hot soup, salads, and a wide selection of coffee. An etched glass and wrought-iron sign announces a restaurant. Today it is full, closed for a large private party that dines on long tables covered in white linen and crystal. Outside, benches are plentiful, placed for arriving passengers to wait for their rides. The view from the benches is of well-kept landscaping and the old section of downtown LA. One leaves this station with a deep appreciation for the efforts of all those who have contributed to its restoration.

The two stations, at both ends of the same line, leave the traveller with a different view of humanity. In the San Bernardino station, one feels a sadness that what once was there stands not only unappreciated but abused, as if by disrespecting the past, there is no future. In contrast, in the Los Angeles station, one feels a sense of wonder, pride, and participation in a luxurious time that, although it is long past, is again alive and thriving, bringing hope for the future. This western terminal of the old Santa Fe line brings a sense of satisfaction, peace, and civic pride, unlike the sense of distress and disappointment in the community that the San Bernardino station brings.

(12th Grade Reading Level)

I have driven a Volkswagen for over twenty years. I recently began driving my husband's Volvo. My reactions, developed for the VW, were out-of-synch with that car. I don't mean my actual driving reactions--braking time, steering, and so on--I mean my reactions to the cars around me. My reactions were out of synch with other drivers' perceptions, as I was in a larger, heavier car with -- more social status than a VW has. I found that I would automatically slow down to let people merge in front of me onto the freeway, but they would slow down to let me by. It became a contest of who could go more slowly. After this happened several times, I realized that it was the car they were responding to and that I was accustomed to letting people on in front of me because they wanted to be in front of a VW. They hate VWs. I began switching back and forth between the cars to test my theories. I found that people would be interminably driving along the shoulder of the freeway, hesitant to merge when I drove the Volvo, but when I drove the VW, no matter how fast I was going, they had to get on in front of me. I found that I could be driving at 45 to 55 mph in the right lane in the Volvo and merging cars would slow down--new cars. At 35 mph, they would still be slowing. In sharp contrast, in the VW, I could be going 60 to 65 mph and would be forced to brake to allow old beaten-up cars and mini-trucks with their mufflers attached by coat hangers to merge in front of me at 35 mph. Merging onto the freeway myself, I always had a place reserved for me in the right lane in the Volvo; in the VW, however, I would be forced onto the shoulder by double 18 wheeler Mack trucks intent on not letting me on at even 65 mph with signs indicating "merge left: lane ends." It was not just on the freeway that I experienced this contrast in normal road courtesy and total hostility. On the mountain road down from my house, in the VW, people regularly come screaming up behind me, tailgating me at 45 mph, flashing their lights and even sometimes honking their horns. On the other hand, in the Volvo, I can drive at 35 mph down the same road and see the same people come screaming down the road, suddenly slowing to a respectable six or more (!) car-lengths behind me, where they remain. In the VW, I notice that people will emperil their lives and the lives of others in oncoming traffic to prove a point. These people will fling themselves out across the double yellow line on a curve just to get in front of a VW. Coming up the hill, I always make use of the turnouts. The VW does lose power on the long uphill grade and I exercise the proper courtesy in allowing others to pass. I'm in no hurry. I enjoy the view coming home. Two days ago, a group of brats in a little "look what daddy bought me" car with the license plate URA HAG flipped me off for pulling over to let them pass.

I surmise that the point these emotionally deranged people who have descended into the quagmire of Road Rage are trying to make is, "I'm better than you are because my car is newer," but feel their hostility in making the point arises from resentment that my car is paid for, reliable, gets good gas mileage, and costs less to insure. They resent the fact that I have not bought into the fantasies that car companies advertise on television, and have not gone into debt doing so, as they have, only later to realize that they have even less personal power than they did before going into debt to purchase imagined freedom. My car says to them, "I have personal power. I don't need a car that advertises it."

(11th Grade Reading Level)

Expressions used for compare contrast:

Note the different punctuation and capitalization used with different sets:

SV= subject and verb.

Conjunctions (do not capitalize):

• SV, but SV.

transition words and expressions:

• however
  
  • SV; however, SV.
    
  • SV. However, SV.
    
  • SV. S, however, V. (in the case of a "be" verb, the transition word comes after the "be" verb and before the predicate modifier, as in "They are, however, interchangeable."
    
  
  
• nevertheless
  
  • SV; nevertheless, SV.
    
  • SV. Nevertheless, SV.
    
  • SV. S, nevertheless, V. (see note re: "be" verbs above)
  
  
• On the other hand
  
  • SV. On the other hand, SV.
    
  • the transition phrases or expressions may also be used after a semi-colon (;) like the transition words, but in general the single words are used more often after a semi-colon and the phrases after a period. They are, however, interchangeable.
    
  • SV. In contrast, SV.
    
  • SV. Unlike (whatever example is given in the preceding sentence), SV
  
  

subordinators cannot begin simple sentences--they are always a part of a complex sentence, a sentence that combines two simple sentences. These words make the sentence part that they are attached to subordinate to the other and they can, therefore, no longer stand alone:

• although
  
  • Although he has a lot of friends, he is often lonely.
    
  • He is often lonely, although he has a lot of friends.
  
  
• Even though
  
  • He is often lonely, even though he has a lot of friends.
    
  • Even though he has a lot of friends, he is often lonely.
  
  
• Note: The subordinators of contrast are preceded by a comma when they join their clause at the end of the sentence (unlike other subordinators like "because.") When they are placed at the beginning of the sentence, they are, in effect, "backwards" sentences and so a comma must be placed at the end of their clause (where the period would be if they were at the end). Look at the preceding two examples and you will see this.
  

*Thanks to Steve Grande for his wonderful photos of the interiors and exteriors of these and other stations. He has some wonderful slide shows of train rides across the American coutryside at his web site too.

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