What is a strategy to compare two texts?

• A. Read only one text.
• B. Identify similarities and differences in ideas, characters, or events.
• C. Compare text lengths.
• D. Look for spelling differences.

Answer: (B)

When you compare two texts, you look for similarities and differences in ideas, characters, or events. Noting these similarities and differences helps you understand how each author presents a topic, develops characters, and moves the plot, and it lets you see different viewpoints or themes across the texts. You can use evidence from both to support your thinking.

Reading only one text gives you nothing to compare, so you miss connections. Checking text lengths or spelling differences doesn’t reveal how ideas or events relate.