Many students (especially freshmen) get stressed when they come across words like “a comparative essay” in their home assignment, but they should not. This piece of writing involves comparing and contrasting two objects, events, actions, people, and so on. In academic writing, you will definitely face comparative writing very often since most of studies discuss more than one theory and students must be able to differentiate between their similarities or opposing features.
There are different ways to organize your ideas in comparative writing. Students who contact us with a question “how to write a compare and contrast essay” do not know how to get started, meaning what structure to choose. You can discuss the first object in your essay and then another. For instance, you can prove that those two objects are very different or very similar. Many students do not understand the basic goal of comparative essays. They should not only include your comparison of similarities and differences, but clearly state the final conclusion based on your results.
Rules for Effective Comparative Writing
- If the choice of topic is up to you, you should select the topic that is interesting for you and it is obvious that those 2 objects can be easily compared since they relate to one logical category. For instance, it would be appropriate to compare a bicycle and a car, but not a car and a bed. Your essay should be based on a clear argument based on the similarities and differences. You can organize your comparative essay as an argument writing, meaning that you want to prove that though those objects have many similarities, they are still different. You can check some compare and contrast essay examples to see how it can be done.
- Mention the importance of the topic. The reader should understand why you compare those specific objects, which is the reason why you should point out the purpose of writing. Your language should be colorful and vivid, which will stir readers’ imagination. You must use comparative language, which will prove that you are indeed comparing notions: similarly, on the contrary, in the same manner, likewise, etc.
- In introduction, the reader must see a clear thesis statement, which will be a guide for the reader’s future discussion. Thesis statement should unite both objects. Your thesis statement should give a deeper meaning of the future analysis, so that the reader will not question himself/herself as “so what?” Finally, thesis statement should provide a hint on the paper organization, presuming how many categories will be presented in main body paragraphs. Do not hesitate to find a compare and contrast example on the web to know what this writing task requires.
- In compare contrast essay, different writing patterns can be used. You can discuss both points simultaneously or discuss first differences and then similarities, etc. In any case, it is up to you. You should simply introduce clear and concise ideas and prove that you are competent in the topic.
- All your main body paragraphs should be connected with the thesis statement. You should introduce evidential support, proving your claims. You cannot simply mention “These two pictures are much alike,” you should provide clear reasoning for it. Choose interesting and sophisticated compare and contrast essay topics to be able to handle the writing task.
- The final paragraph must be a conclusion, where you have to summarize the key results of your research. You have to prove that things are different, alike, etc. The reader should have a sense of completion. Do not introduce any new evidence in your conclusion.
