Read the following text:
swimming gave jonathan confidence. he could focus on the stroke or the flip turn down the lane and not think about his troubles. he could set a pace and think about rhythm during practice. he needed to swim. he craved the water and the lanes. he didn't need to rely on others to win races, but he soon found that collecting medals and setting record times didn't matter as much as the escape. the practice became what he needed and wanted.
which of the following states a theme of this excerpt?
jonathan likes swimming.
jonathan prefers practice.
winning is not everything.
worries and troubles mount.

Winning is not everything.

One of the themes of the excerpt is that winning is not everything when practicing a sport. In this case, Jonathan loves to swim, and he realizes that, even though the races, the medals and the record times might be nice, what he really appreciates is the "escape." Swimming gives him confidence, focus and distraction. This is the reason why he is so passionate about the sport.

a compare and contrast essay is a piece of formal writing in which the author focus on the similarities between two ideas, objects, places, etc., and the differences between them. there are some aspects that the author should take into account when he/she is crafting the essay. first, the author has a clear idea of the effect that he/she wants to produce on the audience (a purpose). his/her main idea should be presented in the thesis statement in a simple but effective way which gives the audience a clear idea of the content and the direction of the essay. in addition, it is also important to focus to the similarities and differences that not only are interesting and relevant to the reader but also provide a new, impressive point of view or deeper understanding of a topic.