A useful comparison of Grant and Lee

Bruce Catton does a great job of using compare and contrast wisely to get his point across in his essay, "Grant and Lee: A study in Contrasts". He clearly describes who each character was and what he stood for. Then, at the end he goes on to analyze the importance comparing these two important figures.

In order to understand how he uses compare and contrast to get his point across, we first have understand what his point is. He compares Grant and Lee to show how two very different men were able to come together - in a room- and decide the future of America. They each had their strong opinions of what they each stood for, and what they each wanted was at two opposite ends of the spectrum. Yet with all these differences, they were able to unite America back again. His message is that having to different opinions doesn't have to be a bad thing. When trying to decide the future of our country these two men surely had some conflicts but because they were different, they were able to analyze the two different options and chose the best one.

Even thought he leaves the analysis at the end, at the beginning he does mention his purpose for comparing and contrasting. This helps with getting his point across because, as we read his comparative essay, we have his argument on the back of our minds.

He also gets his point across by painting an image of each character. He describes where each of them grew up and what affected their way of thinking. Catton does this in an organized fashion. He first describes to us Lee's background and opinion and then he moves on to Grant.

Overall, he has clear image of what he is trying to get across and he is able to transmit this clearness on to us.