Teach Literary Comparison with Ready-to-Use Task Cards

As students begin engaging with more complex literary texts, higher-order thinking, such as the ability to analyze characters, contexts, storylines and themes, becomes a highly valuable skill.

This set of 40 task cards has been created by our expert team to get your students comparing and contrasting storylines, ideas and character relationships in two texts they have read. Each prompt has been designed to encourage students to think critically about the two texts they are comparing and to make judgements based on textual evidence.

The questions cover topics such as:

• Characters
• Plot Structure
• Conflict Development and Resolution
• Theme Development
• Context Clues
• Emotional Insight

This set of literary comparison task cards downloads as a full-color PDF or editable Google Slides file. It includes an instruction page, 40 x task cards and a recording sheet for students.

Read on to learn more about how to use this versatile resource in your literature lessons!

How to Compare Literature Using These Task Cards

These task cards are an excellent tool for fostering thoughtful literary comparison in a variety of classroom contexts. Their open-ended nature allows for flexible use in whole-class discussions, small-group work or independent practice.

Here’s how you can get your students to compare literature using these task cards:

1. Have students choose two texts that they have read. These can be short stories, chapters from novels, paired passages or any combination you approve.
2. Pick a task card from the deck or have the students pick their own. Each card includes a question that asks them to compare elements of both texts, such as characters, plot, setting or theme.
3. Have the students read the question carefully and think about how it applies to both texts. Encourage them to use examples and evidence to support their response.
4. Students use the recording sheet to write their answer. Make sure they list the name of both texts and the card number they are answering on their recording sheet.

No matter how you choose to use this resource, these cards help students practice comparing texts in a way that is purposeful and aligned with curriculum goals.

Download These Literary Comparison Task Cards

Use the dropdown arrow on the Download button to choose between the editable Google Slides file or the easy-print PDF. Please note that you will be prompted to make a copy of the Google Slides file.

Print the task cards on cardstock to increase the durability of the resource. Cut the cards, then place them into a ziplock bag for safekeeping. Be sure to keep some recording sheets handy, too!

This resource was created by Kaylyn Chupp, a teacher in Florida and a Teach Starter collaborator.

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