Think of two people you know who are nothing like each other, yet keep ending up in the same room. One is careful; the other rushes. One talks; the other watches. That clash is what keeps a story moving.
Today you will pick two contrasting characters from your anchor text, work through five set comparison questions, decide what evidence to hunt under each, weigh the pair side by side, and write a five-point Character Comparison Sheet for your Communication Portfolio.
Name the two characters from the anchor text your class chose. If you are unsure, check the entry you made when the class agreed it, or ask your teacher before you start.
Writers build tension by putting unlike people together. Before you touch your own pair, watch this short example work the same move.
| Term | What it means for you | Real example |
|---|---|---|
| Contrast: a clear difference placed side by side | It shows you what each character is by showing what they are not | One character plans; the other wings it |
| Similarity: something both still share | It stops the comparison becoming a cartoon of opposites | Both still need the same bus |
| Dramatic tension: the pull when wants or ways clash | It is why the scene feels alive rather than flat | Same need, opposite handling of money and time |
Worked example (not your anchor text). Maeve arrives twenty minutes early, bag on her knees, counting coins. Jordan arrives as the bus pulls up, hoodie half on, laughing at his phone, no ticket: "You can cover me, yeah?"
The same five questions you will use, answered for Maeve and Jordan:
The tension is not that they are different. It is that they need the same thing and handle it in opposite ways.
The five comparison questions are already set for you. Your job is to decide what evidence you will hunt for under each one in your anchor text. These notes carry straight into the next step, so keep them short and concrete enough that you could point to a scene, a line, or a moment later.
Under each heading, add one plain note on what you will look for. You are not inventing new headings; you are making the hunt your own.
Add your two anchor-text characters as the options. Use the same five criteria you prepared. For each criterion, write a short evidence note from the text for both characters. Those notes are the required work: you will lift them into your comparison sheet next.
Weights are optional. If you like, slide one weight only to notice which clash matters most. You are not picking a winner and nothing is scored. There is no correct ranking; there is a reasoned set of notes.
This is the communication piece that goes in your Communication Portfolio. Write up your Character Comparison Sheet: name both characters, give at least five points of similarity or difference with a short note of evidence for each, and end with one sentence on how the contrast creates tension. You are showing a reader how the writer sets two people against each other.
In class, the minimum is the five-point evidenced sheet (bullets are fine). If you finish early, stretch into continuous prose. If time runs out, file the five-point sheet today and finish any prose version for homework.
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