Despite the current emphasis on thinking skills and the resulting concentration on lists and taxonomies that do not succeed beyond research contexts, all reflective people know that critical thought relies not on applying mental steps but on simply trying to figure out what might be right or wrong. This depends on one basic cognitive act, contrasting--directing one's initial thoughts to the crucial differences between things or to the distinctions that reveal essential characteristics. This thinking is necessary and natural in the study of literature because writers often use comparison and contrast in their writing, while readers must compare and contrast their understanding against the criterion of the text's assumed coherence. To help students enjoy literature's resonances (the relationships of such elements as images, characters, and circumstances), teachers must foster their critical perceptions and contrastive powers through recognizing and applying contrastive thought. Such critical thought can be taught by example, guided discussion, and independent writing, particularly through use of a divided reader's journal in which students paraphrase and quote contrastive parts of literature texts. (Appended are examples of a divided page and the comment page in the reader's journal.) (EL)