I've lived through many exams in school where we were asked to do the above.
I never wanted to get thrown out of class but was always curious:
Could anybody please compare and contrast "Comparing and Contrasting"?
I'll give it a shot.
This is a great illustration of the power of the English language.
The slight shading of meaning and the implicit message in the choice of word.
"Comparing" assumes no prior judgement about the items being compared; they can have more similarities than differences or vice-versa.
"Contrasting" is a comparison between things assumed or known to be different.
Compare = how are they alike?
Contrast = how do they differ?
Any questions?