♦ A comparison of medieval Europe and Japan – handout based on the account by Kallie Szczepanski and adapted from asianhistory.about.com
Referring to a comparison:
- In both cases,…
- In this way, each society/group/practice is similar…
- Compared to…
- This is comparable to…
- This practice resembles…
- In both societies, …
- Another common element is…
- In comparison,…
- also
- similarly | like
Pointing out a contrast:
- One distinction is…
- Knights and samurai warriors differed in their attitudes to…
- Another difference is…
- While …, …
- Whereas …, …
- In contrast to this, …
- Attitudes towards …. were different from…
- Despite…
- On the one hand,…; on the other hand…
- Although… | …though… | however | nevertheless
- A (key) distinguishing factor is…
- instead | rather than | unlike
- yet | but | …, nor
Note that a semicolon [;] is the ideal punctuation mark for pointing a contrast between two people, experiences, social practices or societies. In effect, the semicolon alerts your reader to your intention of revealing the other side of the issue. Here are two examples:
- On the positive side, Ms Green is generally a helpful and considerate teacher; one criticism, however, is that she has a tendency to ramble on when students wish to concentrate on their work.
- In medieval Europe, noble women were sometimes considered to be fragile damsels who required protection from heroic knights; according to Japanese custom, in contrast, women were expected to be courageous and to face death without fear.
Task 1: After reading and completing the handout, write a comment in which you refer to one comparison and one contrast between Japanese and European feudal societies. Try to use some of the phrasing provided above.
Task 2: Then read your text (pp.358-60) and the links below before writing brief notes on each of these concepts:
The photo in the background of the crossword below is from Flickr via Madmrmox.
Task 3: Complete the crossword below on the full screen here.
Khan Academy: Introduction to Japanese Feudalism
(includes references to similarities between Japanese and European Feudalism)
Task 4: