Once you have mastered this style of essay writing, you will reap the benefits throughout your life. Strong comparison skills will help you produce better college admission essays and defend your position in debates. These strategies will help you increase your test scores and write better college papers. Looking professional, they may easily persuade team members of anything from new workflow software to a working coffeemaker to a promotion.
Let’s look at what a comparison essay is, what purpose it serves, and how to write one in nine simple steps.
What is a Comparison and Contrast Essay?
A compare and contrast essay is just what it sounds like. You compare and contrast two or more items. Your paper could cover any topic, including science, history, the field of economics literature, or philosophy.
Comparative essays differ from other types of essays that are frequently assigned in school. A descriptive essay, for example, typically focuses on a single subject, book, or idea and delves deeply into it. In contrast, an argumentative piece attempts to persuade the reader to take a specific action.
The primary feature of comparison essay themes is that they address two issues or ideas at once. Some of the most typical contrast essay examples include comparisons of:
- Analyze two scientific methods for similarities and differences.
- Read two classic stories from the same time period.
- Analyze contrasting political systems in the US or abroad.
- Analyze two cultures to identify shared values and practices.
- Consider two approaches to a moral or logistical problem.
- Analyze two farming techniques emphasizing the pros.
You could theoretically utilize this organizational structure to investigate two items in the precise same category for nearly any subject.
What is the Purpose of a Compare and Contrast Essay?
The goal of a compare and contrast essay is to highlight all the similarities and contrasts between two words, ideas, and so on. Considering two concepts thoroughly can naturally lead to the ability to argue for or against a viewpoint or attitude.
In argument, for example, contrasting and comparing is an important skill since you must be able to look at the topic from all sides. Obviously, you must argue your side of the issue, but it is also vital that you consider the opposing viewpoint. Otherwise, you will be totally unprepared for their arguments. Therefore, evaluating the benefits, ideological foundations, and rhetorical approaches that best fit both sides.
How to Write a Comparison and Contrast Essay
There are three major steps to complete a comparative and contrast essay: research, writing, and proofreading. While this may appear to be an unnecessarily formal approach, it is helpful because it helps you to organize your important points ahead of time and utilize whatever visual aids necessary to spot similarities and differences.
After you’ve laid out your points of comparison, you can categorize them based on likeness. We shall cover two techniques for this: alternating and blocking. However, all these will allow you to develop your main thesis and include relevant transitions as needed. Therefore, the document will then be completed with an introduction and conclusion before being proofread.
Step 1: Conduct Initial Research
Your early study should answer questions like these:
1. What sources will I utilize if my teacher or professor allows me to choose? Do I need any extra sources to supplement or reinforce my initial research? Do I have enough information to write this paper?
2. Can I compare and contrast my subjects based on their similarities? Apples and oranges might not be the same.
Step 2: List all the Similarities and Differences
Next, make a list of what is similar and different between your two things.
Begin by creating a side-by-side comparison with a Venn diagram, chart, or other visual tool. You may include setting, story, characters, year written and set, mood, themes, tone, and appearances in subsequent pop culture. Make sure your points of comparison are organized so you don’t have to seek the corollaries later.
Step 3: Create a Clear Thesis
Your thesis statement serves as your essay’s compass. It should be brief, clearly stating what you will compare and contrast.
For example, if you’re writing an essay comparing pets, state that you’ll look into their care, behavior, and suitability.
Step 4: Create a Thesis Statement
After you’ve put down a few rough comparison and contrast sentences, you may move on to writing your topic sentence. However, this is also known as a thesis or thesis statement, and it outlines the major point you will provide.
Step 5: Create an Outline
Now that you’ve identified your essential ideas, you should turn your rough content into an outline. Therefore, a compare and contrast essay can be structured in two ways: alternating or block.
Step 6: Write the Introduction
Once you have a thesis statement and an essay outline, writing your essay becomes a lot easier. Therefore, you need to begin with the introduction and intend to include the thesis you created at the end of the introductory paragraph(s). Prior to that assertion, provide a brief overview of both items being compared (in this case, the two novels), including relevant subject matter information such as the author, writing eras, and overall themes. For writing a strong introduction for your essay some students look for professional help. essay writing service UAE is one of the best choices students ever make.
Step 7: Write the Body Paragraphs
The body paragraphs are the most significant part of your essay structure, and the typical essay format calls for three. However, if your essay is longer, instead of utilizing a single paragraph for the first, second, and so on, consider employing a section. In any case, the first body paragraph will serve as a comparison and contrast in the alternating technique, or as a comprehensive discussion of the first subject. Then you will handle the second subject, and so forth.
Step 8: Write the Conclusion
The conclusion should summarise your essay, emphasizing the major argument of your thesis. Therefore, make sure you rephrase it, not verbatim, but rather close to the top of your final paragraph.
Step 9: Check for Spelling and Grammar
First, use a spellchecker to spot any problems. Most word processing software includes a spelling and grammar checker. Therefore, if you adopt this option, make sure it is properly configured for your language and dialect; otherwise, errors will occur. Alternatively, you might use an internet service to help improve your writing skills.
Step 10: Check for Citation Errors
However, while most students are honorable and complete their own work, it is easy to get caught accidentally plagiarising just because you do not understand basic citation standards. For example, you must source every quote from a novel, even if you use it multiple times and have already cited it in your paper.
Conclusion
This is especially true if you follow the nine methods outlined above, which will help you gain points in both high school and college classes. That is if you ensure that you have not plagiarised from any of your sources.
However, using a plagiarism checker will be useful not only in academic situations but also in any future writing. Even inadvertent plagiarism can have serious implications, regardless of your profession or position. Plagiarism checkers provide a straightforward approach to guarantee you have properly credited and paraphrased all of your writing, giving you peace of mind before submitting any writing task.
