Top 6 Best 'Comparison' Lessons for 6th Grade

Exercises

1. Exercise 1, pages 25 - 26, textbook.

2. Exercise 2, page 26, textbook.

3. Exercise 3, page 26, textbook.

4. Find the comparisons in the following folk verses:

- When crossing the bridge, I raise my hat to look at the bridge,

The more steps the bridge has, the more sorrow I feel.

- When crossing the temple, I raise my hat to look at the temple,

The more tiles the temple has, the more love I feel.

What words of comparison are used here?

5. Write a short paragraph using comparisons to describe the Cricket in the excerpt from 'The First Lesson of Life.'

Suggested Solution

Question 1. Based on the given comparison model, students can find similar comparisons.

Pay attention to the nature of the compared objects: people to people, objects to objects, objects to people, concrete to abstract. For example:

- The doctor is like a kind mother. (comparison of the same type - person to person)

- Rivers and canals are as dense as a spider's web. (comparison of the same type - object to object)

Question 2. A dictionary of idioms can be used for reference. Note: There might be one or more suitable words for the blanks. For example: as strong as an elephant; as strong as a tiger; as strong as an ox; as strong as General Trương Phi...

Question 3. Find sentences using comparisons in the texts 'The First Lesson of Life' and 'The Waters of Ca Mau'. For example:

'The First Lesson of Life':

+ The broken grass bends as if a knife just passed through.

+ The two black teeth always chew as if they are two working sickles.

+ ...

'The Waters of Ca Mau':

+ As we head further toward the Ca Mau Cape, rivers and canals become more entangled, resembling a spider's web.

+ [...] There, countless swarms of black-eyed insects gather, as black as sesame seeds, flying alongside the boat like tiny clouds [...].

+ ...

Question 4. Pay attention to the phrase: as many... as many.

Students review the text 'The First Lesson of Life' and use it to write a paragraph describing the Cricket, paying attention to the comparisons used by the author.

I- What is Comparison?

Question 1, Page 24, 6th Grade Literature Textbook, Volume 2:

Here are some examples of comparative phrases:

"A bud on a branch"
"Two endless walls of the Great Wall"

Question 2, Page 24, 6th Grade Literature Textbook, Volume 2:

Objects being compared:

Children are compared to a bud on a branch
The mangrove forest standing tall is compared to two endless walls of the Great Wall
The basis for comparison: based on similarities

Effect:

Brings more vividness, imagery, and emotional depth to the object
Highlights the speaker's feelings

Question 3, Page 24, 6th Grade Literature Textbook, Volume 2:

The comparison here aims to create contrast, specifically regarding the characteristics of a cat.

II- Structure of a Comparison

Question 1, Page 24, 6th Grade Literature Textbook, Volume 2:

Part A (object to be compared) - Aspect of comparison - Comparative word - Part B (object being compared to)

Children - like - a bud on a branch

The forest - stands tall - like two endless walls of the Great Wall

The striped cat - is larger - than the tiger

Question 2, Page 25, 6th Grade Literature Textbook, Volume 2:

Other comparative words: like, similar to, as... as

Question 3, Page 25, 6th Grade Literature Textbook, Volume 2:

The comparison structure:

Absence of words indicating the aspect of comparison or the comparative word
Both the comparative word and part B are placed before part A

III- Practice

Question 1, Page 25, 6th Grade Literature Textbook, Volume 2:

a. Comparison within the same category:

Physician is like a mother (person to person)
Flame flowers are like clusters of red fire (object to object)

b. Comparison across different categories:

You will be a bird's wing
A newly blooming flower looks shy like a young girl

c. Concrete and abstract comparison:

A sailboat spreads wide like the soul of the village
A mother's love is vast like the Thái Bình Sea

Question 2, Page 26, 6th Grade Literature Textbook, Volume 2:

Strong as an elephant/ox
Black as coal/charred house beam
White as snow/peeled egg
High as a mountain/stick

Question 3, Page 26, 6th Grade Literature Textbook, Volume 2:

a. Comparison in "The First Day of School":

The broken grass lay flat as if sliced by a knife.
The two black teeth were always gnawing away like two sickles at work.
The cricket, thin and long, looked like a drug addict.
Smelly like an owl.
The cockscomb was like a metal rod, piercing through the earth.

b. Comparison in "The Rivers of Ca Mau":

As we head towards the tip of Ca Mau, the rivers, canals, and streams are as tangled as a spider's web.
The river of Năm Căn flows fast, day and night like a waterfall.
The fish swim in schools, black as ink, bobbing up and down like people doing frog strokes in the white-capped waves.
Boats sail on a wide river more than a thousand feet across, surrounded by mangrove forests standing tall like two endless walls of the Great Wall.
The familiar scenery of the market village... boats with nets and trading boats bobbing on the waves.

I. What is comparison?

Comparison is the act of contrasting one thing or event with another that shares similarities, to enhance the imagery and emotional impact of the expression.

Question 1 - Page 24 Textbook

Find the groups of words containing comparison imagery in the following sentences:

a)

Children are like buds on a branch.

They know how to eat, sleep, and study, which makes them good.

(Ho Chi Minh)

b) […] the mangrove forest rises high like two endless Great Walls.

(Doan Gioi)

Answer:

The groups of words containing comparison imagery:

a) Children are like buds on a branch.

b) The mangrove forest rises high like two endless Great Walls.

Question 2 - Page 24 Textbook

In each of the comparisons above, what are the things being compared? Why can they be compared this way? What is the purpose of comparing these things?

Answer:

The objects being compared: children – buds on a branch; mangrove forest – tall like two Great Walls.

- The objects in both parts of the comparison have similar features, so the comparison is valid.

- The purpose of comparison is to enhance the imagery and emotional appeal of the expression.

Question 3 - Page 24 Textbook

How does the comparison in the following sentence differ from those above:

"The striped cat entered the painting, larger than a tiger, but its expression is so friendly."

(Ta Duy Anh)

Answer:

This comparison is not a rhetorical comparison, but rather a logical comparison, focused more on cognitive function than emotional expression.

II. Structure of Comparisons

Question 1 - Page 24 Textbook

Fill in the comparison groups from the previous section into the blanks below, following the model of comparison structure:

Part A (The thing being compared) - Comparison tool - Comparison word - Part B (The thing used for comparison)

Answer:

Part A (The thing being compared) - Comparison tool - Comparison word - Part B (The thing used for comparison)
Children - like - Buds on a branch
Mangrove forest - Rises high - like - Two endless Great Walls
Striped cat - Bigger than - Tiger

Question 2 - Page 25 Textbook

Provide other comparison words that you know.

Answer:

- The pair “how many… that many…”

- The word “is”

- The phrase “like”

Question 3 - Page 25 Textbook

What is special about the structure of comparison in the sentences below?

a)

Truong Son: great aspirations of our ancestors

Cuu Long: boundless love of a mother.

(Le Anh Xuan)

b)

Like straight bamboo, a person does not bow down.

(The New Steel)

Answer:

The structure of the comparison:

+ Uses a colon instead of the comparison word

+ Uses inverted word order.

III. Preparation for the Comparison Lesson in Exercises

Question 1 - Page 25 Textbook

For each suggested comparison model below, find additional examples:

a) Comparison among the same category

- Comparing people to people:

At home, my mother is also a teacher.

At school, the teacher is like a kind mother.

(Song lyrics)

- Comparing objects to objects:

From afar, the kapok tree stands tall like a giant lighthouse.

(Vu Tu Nam)

b) Comparison among different categories

- Comparing objects to people:

The house is like a child.

Growing up with the blue sky.

(Dong Xuan Lan)

The grandmother is like a ripe fruit.

Growing older, she becomes more precious like golden hearts.

(Vo Thanh An)

- Comparing concrete things to abstract ideas:

Truong Son: great aspirations of our ancestors

Cuu Long: boundless love of a mother.

(Le Anh Xuan)

Father's love is like Mount Tai

Mother's love is like the water flowing from the source.

(Folk song)

Answer:

a) Comparison within the same category:

- Comparing people to people:

+ My teacher is as kind as the fairy tale Cinderella.

+ My grandfather has a beard as white as Santa Claus.

- Comparing objects to objects:

+ “The sun sets into the sea like a burning ember.”

+ “From afar, the kapok tree stands tall like a giant lighthouse.”

b) Comparison among different categories:

- Comparing objects to people:

+ The fish swims in a long black row, jumping up and down like people swimming like frogs among the white waves.

+ The bamboo looks noble and simple, with a spirit like humans.

- Comparing concrete things to abstract ideas:

My journey is long, yet it cannot compare to the deep sorrow in a broken heart.

(To Huu)

Don’t be green like leaves, pale like lime.

Question 2 - Page 26 Textbook

Based on known idioms, complete the second part of the comparisons below:

- As strong as...

- As black as...

- As white as...

- As tall as...

Answer:

- As strong as an ox

- As black as coal

- As white as an egg shell

- As tall as a mountain

Question 3 - Page 26 Textbook

Find sentences using comparisons from the works "Life's Lesson" and "The Water of Ca Mau".

Answer:

a) Comparisons in "Life's Lesson":

+ The trees are bent low, as if sliced by a knife.

+ The two black teeth...like two sickles.

+ This guy is like a drug addict.

+ He is an adult but...like a man without a shirt and vest.

+ You stink like an owl...

+ The beak of the woodpecker is like an iron rod...

+ As if the anger was already released...

b) Comparisons in "The Water of Ca Mau":

+ The further it moves toward the Ca Mau point...like a spider web.

+ ...called the Bọ Mắt canal...like little clouds.

+ On both riverbanks...high like two endless Great Walls.

+ ...the piles of wood are as high as mountains near the shore...

+ ...the floating houses with lights...like a floating street...

+ ...has given Năm Căn a unique color, surpassing all other market towns...

Summary

The complete structure of a comparison includes:

- Part A (the thing being compared);

- Part B (the thing used for comparison);

- Words indicating the comparison aspect;

- Words indicating the comparison’s meaning (often referred to as comparison words).

In reality, the above structure may be modified to some extent:

- Words indicating the comparison aspect and meaning can sometimes be omitted.

- Part B may be placed before Part A with the comparison word.

I. FUNDAMENTAL KNOWLEDGE TO MASTER

This lesson requires you to:

- Understand the concept of comparison

- Know the structure of comparison.

1. What is comparison?

a) Comparison is the process of contrasting one object, event, or phenomenon with another similar one. For example:

- The moon is like a golden sickle, the moon is like a silver platter.

(comparing this object with another similar in shape)

- The mangrove forest stands tall like two endless walls of the Great Wall.

(comparing this event with another similar in height)

- The broken grass is bent down, as if a blade of a knife just swept over.

(comparing this event with another similar in state)

b) Not every comparison creates vivid imagery. For example:

- Why is he so slow, like his father?

- He looks as beautiful as his mother.

But when comparison is used for rhetorical purposes, it can enhance the imagery and emotional appeal of the sentence. For example:

- Why is he so slow, as if he were a monk entering a temple?

- He looks as beautiful as a painting.

c) In literary texts, especially descriptive writing, comparisons are often used for rhetorical effect. Without comparisons, sentences lose their vividness and description. For example:

- With comparison:

The market in Hon Gai in the morning is filled with shrimp and fish. The healthy songfish, when caught, struggle for hours, their gray scales speckled with black. The flat body of the pomfret looks like a bird with its wings spread, its meat among the best. The fat, white and smooth sea bass looks as though it has been coated with a layer of grease. The round shrimp, their flesh swollen like the wrist of a three-year-old child, their green skin glistening, their legs kicking like they are ready to swim.

(Thi Sảnh)

- Without comparison:

The market in Hon Gai in the morning is filled with shrimp and fish. The healthy songfish, when caught, struggle for hours, their gray scales speckled with black. The flat body of the pomfret, its meat among the best. The fat, white and smooth sea bass. The round shrimp, their flesh swollen like the wrist of a three-year-old child, their green skin glistening, their legs kicking like they are ready to swim.

2. The structure of comparison

a) A complete comparison includes:

- Part A: mentions the object, event, or phenomenon being compared. For example: the skinny cricket.

- Part B: mentions the object, event, or phenomenon used for comparison. For example: a heroin addict.

- The aspect being compared. For example: a thin and lanky person.

- The comparative word. For example: like, similar to...

You can visualize the complete structure of a comparison based on the table below:

Part A - Comparative aspect - Comparative word - Part B

The skinny cricket - a thin and lanky person - like - a heroin addict.

The striped cat in the painting - large - larger than - the tiger.

b) An incomplete comparison often omits:

- Words indicating the comparative aspect or the comparative term (abbreviated as the comparative word). For example:

Part A - Comparative aspect - Comparative word - Part B

Mother - also - a teacher

Teacher - like - a kind mother

Ca Mau Nose - young tender earth

- Part B can be inverted before Part A. This type of comparison is commonly used in poetry. For example:

Part A - Part B

Truong Son - the great will of our ancestors

Cu Long - a mother's love, waves crashing

Unyielding human spirit - Like bamboo growing tall

II. EXERCISES

Question 1. This exercise asks you to find another example for each type based on the samples provided in the exercise.

For this task, keep in mind:

- The exercise does not ask you to find examples with the same structure (complete or incomplete components).

- Be sure to find examples that match the given suggestions (same-type comparison: person to person, object to object; different-type comparison: comparing objects to people, concrete to abstract).

Below are some examples following the instructions in the exercise:

a) Same-type comparison

- Comparing person to person:

Uncle Huong Thu... his fiery eyes fixed on the rod like a knight from Truong Son, majestic and heroic.

(Võ Quảng)

- Comparing object to object:

+ The road is as soft as silk

Winding under the green trees

(Village Road, Grade 3 Reading — 1997)

+ That landscape is like a beautiful painting.

(Phan Kế Bính)

b) Different-type comparison

- Comparing object to person:

+ On the historic Ba Dinh Square, Uncle Ho's mausoleum stands grand yet approachable... Right at the mausoleum’s entrance, eighteen evergreen trees stand like a guard of honor.

(From Tiếng Việt 3, Volume 1, 1998)

+ The mulberry branches sway in the wind like hundreds of arms reaching out, catching the golden sunlight, providing shade for the sweet potatoes.

(Dương Thị Xuân Quý)

- Comparing concrete to abstract:

+ The journey took me through a hundred mountains and valleys

But could not match the pain in my heart.

(Tố Hữu)

+ As clear as the sound of a crane flying past,

As muddled as the sound of a stream barely flowing.

The sound of the drill is like the wind whispering outside,

The sound of thunder is like rain pouring down.

(Nguyễn Du)

Question 2. This exercise has two tasks:

- Fill in the blanks.

- Create a proverb using comparison.

You may refer to the following proverbs:

- Strong as an ox, strong as a bull, strong as a tiger...

- Black as a burnt pole, black as soot, black as wild ginseng, black as a lotus root...

- White as cotton, white as snow, white as ivory, white as a peeled egg...

- Tall as a pole, tall as a crane, tall as Mount Tai...

Question 3. Some comparisons in the lesson:

a) The first lesson of life

- The bent grass is as if a knife had just swept across it.

- The two black teeth are constantly chewing like two working sickles.

- The skinny cricket, thin and lanky like a heroin addict.

- He is a young man but his shirt is short, exposing his ribs like someone wearing a sleeveless shirt.

- You stink like an owl, I can't bear it.

- When she regained her composure, she widened her eyes, spreading her wings, as if about to fight.

- The Cốc's beak is like a metal rod, piercing the earth.

- Having calmed down, the Cốc stood preening her feathers for a while, then flew down to the water without a care for the damage caused.

b) The rivers of Ca Mau

- The further you go towards Ca Mau's tip, the more rivers and canals stretch out like a spider's web.

- [...] called the Eye Beetle Canal because it's filled with countless beetles, black as sesame seeds, swarming the boat like a cloud of small insects, [...].

- The Năm Căn River flows endlessly, its waters crashing like a waterfall, the fish swimming in large schools, bobbing like swimmers doing the frog stroke in the white waves.

- [...] looking at both sides of the bank, the mangrove forest towers like two endless walls of the Great Wall.

- [...] the piles of wood stand like mountains along the shore, [...]

- [...] the floating houses, their lights shining brightly like neon-lit streets at night, [...].

- [...] these sights have given Năm Căn a unique charm, unparalleled by any other market in the Ca Mau jungle.

Question 4. Continue correcting spelling mistakes caused by local dialect pronunciations.