One of the common forms of writing essays is a compare-and-contrast one, which can be either a separate assignment or a part of an essay of a larger scope. We have worked a lot to compose a list of guidelines that can facilitate your writing and bring new aspects to your understanding of how to write a compare and contrast essay, how to make its structure effective, how to use the adequate vocabulary in them, and how to select the most suitable criteria for making contrast and comparison.
A Compare and Contrast Essay: What Is It?
A rhetorical style of a compare and contrast essay is used for the discussion of two or more items, places, concepts, things, feelings, and so on to present their different and similar features. It is a typical approach for a specific assignment that your professor will give you in the course of your studies, but it is also an approach to a part of your essays so that one of the points was illustrated brighter.
The function of a compare and contrast essay is twofold: it is supposed to take two things at least and make a discussion of their differences and similarities. Firstly, you need a comparison basis to understand which common things unite the chosen ones. Secondly, your task is to do identification of the differences. There are two methods of structuring these essays and you may opt for the one that you believe is more effective for your particular essay: a block method starts with discussing one of the subjects and then proceeds to the other one, while an alternating method takes one of the aspects and discusses it in both items going on to the next aspect in the same way.
How Can You Write a Good Compare and Contrast Essay?
A compare and contrast paper is similar to other types of writing in terms of clarity and good organization.
- Start with the brainstorming technique.
Learning how to write a compare and contrast essay, you will have to adhere to the advice of professional UK writers who claim that a high level of analysis is a must in any writing. Hence, brainstorming can be valuable for your work. One of the helpful visual brainstorming tools is a Venn diagram with its overlapping circles to show the features of one of the objects in one circle and those of the other object in the other circle. The features common for both of them are seen in the overlapping parts.
- Write a good thesis statement.
Having mapped all the similar and different features of the topics, you will gain an insight into the relationships between them. Ask our writers from the United Kingdom for help if you find that difficult. Your work on the thesis statement will be based on the data obtained from the process of prewriting to get a road map for the entire assignment.
- Develop an effective outline.
Having collected all the data, you can move on to choosing the compare and contrast essay topics and developing an outline. A standard format for any essay is an introduction followed by the essay body and conclusion. Writing the paper itself, follow the structure and outline you have set for your work. Thus, your thoughts will be focused and tight.
- Write the introductory part.
Set a proper tone for your writing with a perfectly written introduction. It is a great idea to use a hook at the beginning in the form of a thought-provoking statement or a rhetorical question. Make the introduction of the chosen subjects exciting for the readers and then finalize the first paragraph with your carefully written thesis statement.
- Proceed to the body paragraph one.
If you ask an expert Great Britain writer for advice, they will tell you that you should pay special attention to the topic sentences in all body paragraphs. So, explain the first field of comparison and contrast, analyzing the subjects. For instance, working on a political structure of two countries, your first paragraph can be devoted to the description of the political processes in every state in a broad manner. After that, two sentences will cover the similarities and two other sentences – differences of those countries.
- Do the same for all the following paragraphs.
An effective comparison essay always uses more than two points for contrast and comparison. Thus, it will be good if you plan three, four or five points to base your comparison on. Take some effective perspectives to view your subjects from and link the paragraphs with smooth transition phrases.
- Write an essay conclusion.
A great beginning should lead to a great ending. You have probably got your thesis proven with sufficient arguments and shown that the chosen subjects are different. A compare and contrast meaning will get even clearer in the last paragraph of your essay when you will reinforce the main ideas and summarize what you wanted your readers to know from you. Remember that you are not allowed to add any extra points at the level of a conclusion.
- Edit and proofread.
Even the best GB writers consider their papers completed only after they have edited and proofread the written content. A careful review of the text is a must for you too!
Topics for Your Compare and Contrast Essays
Start writing only after you are sure that you have chosen the topics that will excite the readers’ interest if you have profound knowledge of them. The chosen two things should have both similar and different characteristics. For instance, you can compare two fruits, two pets, two pieces of music, but you cannot contrast a cat and a violin. Professors require some untypical parallelisms in your writing, but it does not happen on a usual basis. For instance, an uncommon task can be to compare some exclusive taste and your understanding of the story of Dracula. It can be possible to compare one of the smells and a character of the novel Perfume.
The originality of writing may be a feature that will deserve your special attention at your university. If this essay is a part of your statement, you will show that you know how to write a compare and contrast essay and stand out among other applicants.
- College vs. school: what new things does it bring?
- Students with part-time jobs vs. unemployed students: who are more successful?
- Education vs. employment
- British English vs. American English
- Responsibilities of the US President vs. those of the UK Prime Minister
- Animals vs. people
- Poverty vs. being rich
- Effects of tea vs. effects of coffee
- Living in a village vs. being a city-dweller
- Depression vs. mere sadness
- British traditional dishes vs. American traditional dishes
- Pepsi vs. Coke
- Women vs. men
- Being an adult vs. being a child
- On-campus life vs. staying at home
- Professional career vs. getting the education
- Freelance work vs. office work
- Conventional letters vs. e-mail correspondence
- Offline relations vs. online dating
- Reading vs. watching movies
- Divorce vs. getting married
- Philosophical views on living and dying
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