You might find yourself comparing all kinds of things in an academic essay: historical figures, literary works, policies, research methods, etc. Doing so is an important part of constructing arguments.
Your subjects might be very different or quite similar, but it’s important that there be meaningful grounds for comparison. You can probably describe many differences between a cat and a bicycle, but there isn’t really any connection between them to justify the comparison.
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Comparing and contrasting is an important skill in academic writing. It involves taking two or more subjects and analyzing the differences and similarities between them.
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Comparing and contrasting is also a useful approach in all kinds of academic writing: You might compare different studies in a literature review, weigh up different arguments in an argumentative essay, or consider different theoretical approaches in a theoretical framework.
You’ll have to write a thesis statement explaining the central point you want to make in your essay, so be sure to know in advance what connects your subjects and makes them worth comparing.
Mouse over the example paragraph below to see how this approach works.
- Internet.
- Social media.
- Scientific journals.
- Magazines.
- Books.
- Textbooks.
Half of the success of a compare and contrast essay lies in a properly-chosen topic. Now, this can be tricky.
Any A-grade essay would follow this structure. Thus, if you aim to receive better grades, consider taking this structure into account.
Proper formatting is hard to overestimate when it comes to A-grade essay writing. A great deal of your grade depends on it. That is why we recommend you to check out our essay format guide to figure out what your piece should look like.
Interesting topics about literature
No matter how great the topic of your choice is, the target audience can sense when you genuinely care about what you are writing, and when you’re simply following the structure with no personal interest in the subject. If you write yawning and find it hard to find any evidence to support your position, chances are you’ve chosen a wrong topic.
A compare and contrast dog and cat essay might be a good topic for a person deeply loving these furry little creatures. But someone not that much into domestic animals won’t be able to write a single line of an essay comparing dogs and cats.
So, choose your topic wisely.
Now that you know everything you need about proper topics sources, let’s proceed to our list of good topics to choose from.
And here is a short introduction to what this type of academic writing should really look like.
Crafting a compare and contrast essay is typically much more interesting and fun than working on a dissertation. With this piece of writing, a student gets his chance to be creative. Besides, one doesn’t have to re-invent the bicycle: these essays already have a purpose and a topic. All you have to do is find similarities or differences between specific notions. And yes, there is one more problem to it.
The beginning is always the hardest part and essays are not the exception. What to do first? Before you begin writing the compare and contrast essay, you need to be familiar with an outline to follow. Not only does the outline keep you on the right track, but it generates ideas that you can use for the essay. How? It shows what and where to mention. Below, you can see the outline for this type of paper:
This type of essay requires an unbiased approach to the subject to show your ability to discuss similarities and differences without including your emotions and opinions into it. Throughout this guide, you’ll learn how to construct your compare and contrast and impress your teacher.
Contrary to the popular belief, professors and teachers don’t assign essays just to keep you busy and destroy your social life. These assignments help you enhance certain skills and allow lecturers to assess them. After all, the main goal of education is to prepare you for adulthood and it is structured to help you adopt certain skills you’ll use later on. Below, you can see the important skills you develop with compare and contrast essays:
- Literature
- Movies
- History
- Politics
- IT and social media
- Historical figures and personalities
- Music
- Science
- Religion
- Everyday life
- Ideas
- Social issues and changes
- Philosophy
- TV
Compare and contrast essay outline
The greatest advantage of compare and contrast essay is that you can write about anything you like. After all, we compare things on a regular basis without even realizing it. You compare food items while grocery shopping, movies, books, teachers or professors, and so much more. Below, you can see categories that you should consider for high-quality compare and contrast essay:
The whole idea of writing an essay can be frightening, especially because you have many other projects to work on and it’s needless to mention you have a lot of studying to do for your exams. A lot of nervousness comes from lack of information about compare and contrast essay. Students rarely come across accurate tips and tricks and it only makes the writing process longer and more frustrating. Let’s put a stop to that with these tips:
A compare and contrast essay analyzes two subjects or ideas by comparing or contrasting them. In many cases, an assignment requires both. The point of this essay is to demonstrate a deep understanding of the subject, the ability to research, and it also shows a student’s potential to analyze information from different angles.
As a student, you are used to the fact professors or teachers assign all sorts of tasks and essays. Compare and contrast essay is one of them.
We have added a number of compare and contrast essay examples so that you have a working idea of how these types of essays are written. After, we also have discussed some quick and easy tips that you can use while writing your essay.
A compare and contrast essay based on comparisons and contrasts on the elements of the book and how they are similar and different from each other. You can choose books from fiction and non-fiction categories but make sure that whatever books you choose, they are from the same category.
In simple terms, a compare and contrast essay examines, evaluates and analyzes the similarities and dissimilarities between the chosen topics. The topics could be anything from two or more books to pet animals. However, to be a valid compare and contrast topic, the objects must be from the same category.
The categories could either the classification of living beings, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, etc. or books like fiction and non-fiction. Moreover, it follows a structure that includes an introduction, write a thesis statement, body paragraphs and conclusion, but the compare and contrast paper has a different type of content.
Compare and Contrast Essay Examples
Moving forward, we will present some great compare and contrast essay examples that will help you understand how to work with these kinds of essays.
If you are looking for some easy and simple tips to craft a perfectly researched and structured compare and contrast essay then we will not disappoint you. Following are some quick tips that you can keep in mind while writing your essay:
However, if you are worried about writing your essay then we have some good compare and contrast essay examples for you.
In our example, you will discuss both Domino’s Pizza and KFC together for every comparison point. This means that your first body paragraph will have a comparison point on both Domino’s Pizza and KFC. The second paragraph and the third paragraph the same.
What if you still need more clarification on how to write a comparison essay? There is no need to worry. If you want to learn more about comparison essays, consider professional help. EssayMojo.com writing service is a good option for you. Our experienced writers will guide through writing a comparison essay.
Based on your selected structure, make an outline. Because, writing an outline will make it easy to write a logical essay. Moreover, proving more details will make it easy to write your essay. Besides, more details reduce chances of omitting important information.
Find helpful tips how to write comparison essay successfully. Learn more about how to focus on the similarities and differences
Comparison Essay Block pattern
- Introduction
- First subject
In the body paragraphs, you should follow the following steps. Start by stating your point. Then, provide supporting evidence. Use a transition word when moving from one paragraph to the next.
Choose the main argument for your comparison essay. This will guide you through the essay. A good essay should always have a thesis statement. Sometimes it can be challenging to create a strong thesis statement. The good thing is that essay writers online can help you overcome this challenge. Expert writers can guide you through.
This pattern is also known as point by point pattern. With this approach, your essay will have five paragraphs when comparison points are three. Your body will have one section with three paragraphs. In each paragraph, you will compare both subjects.