Grant vs. Lee = Vegeta vs. Goku!

Comparing and contrasting is what Bruce Catton showed in his essay called "Grant and Lee: A Study in Contrasts". What did he do that showed comparison?He did a very good job in describing where they came from and how they were raised. He stated that "Lee was tidewater Virginia, and in his background were family, culture, and tradition....He embodied a way of life that had come down through the age of knighthood and the English country squire." Here Bruce tells us where Lee was born and how his surroundings were. He tells us that he was raised in an environment such that one would have in England with knights and it shows that Lee was probably rich in English culture. Comparing him to Grant, Catton tells us that "Grant, te son of a tanner on the Western Frontier, was everything Lee was not. He had come up the hard way and embodied nothing in particular except the eternal toughness and sinewy fiber of the men who grew up beyond the mountains." This explains to the reader that Grant was raised in the Western part of the United States. This also tells us that Grant was raised in the mountains and more in the wildlife. This helps the reader understand that Catton is trying to state that two different people that were raised completely different and born into different environment come together and become some of the most important historical figures in this great Conflict. Their leadership skills are different but yet they are both fighting to get what they want and have achieve so much. By reading this essay I thought of how to do my essay. I thought of a creative way to do it. I, for sure, wanted to compare two people. And in a way I thought of fighting by what Grant and Lee did. Therefore I chose to do two males that fight but were born in different environments and raised differently but then again brought together to fight for something they want. I chose Goku and Vegeta from DragonBall Z. I compare them by strength and perseverance. Bruce Catton helped me by deciding on what I wanted to compare and how. I decided to do it with a story mode. It was easier to do it this way. But re-reading Catton's essay it makes me want to change it a bit and talk more about what each character does and how they were raised a bit more.

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.