Writing a compare and contrast essay is a task that almost every student gets for his academics. Instructors assign these types of essays to assess the student’s skills in writing, evaluating, analyzing, and differentiating objects.
This piece of writing, like other formal writings, requires a certain format and writing process to be drafted perfectly and professionally. This blog is written to provide information on the writing process of the compare and contrast essay.
Continue reading the blog to have an in-depth understanding of the compare and contrast essay.
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A compare and contrast essay is the most common type of essay that is written to observe and evaluate the similarities and differences between two objects or subjects. In this essay, the two objects of the same category are compared with each other to evaluate their similarities and differences.
The comparison between the two objects is based on facts and logic in compare and contrast essay. A writer states the facts that are visible and tangible and facts that are not obvious and intangible.
We compare things in our daily life to make choices. Hypothetically, if a person has a limited budget and goes shopping, he would compare things and make choices that will best suit him.
Similarly, to write a compare and contrast essay, a writer puts two things together, compares them, and forms a claim.
Writing compare and contrast essays successfully means writing it in a proper and perfect manner. A writer cannot just present the raw information in the essay without an outline. The outline shapes and provides meaning to the entire essay.
Usually, the essay format is provided in the guidelines and instructions but if not then use the basic essay format to structure your essay. According to the traditional outline, an essay should be divided among the following sections:
A good essay will be divided into these sections. The organizational structure of an essay helps a lot in clearly presenting ideas and thoughts. Readers want clear and explicit descriptions that are only possible by outlining the content.
If you have given a task to write a compare and contrast essay for your school or college, you first have to understand the concept of the essay and then move on to the writing process.
In order to make your compare and contrast essay effective, planning is essential. The planning makes the execution process clearer and easier for the writer. It helps the author stay focused and allows him/her to take controlled steps for the content.
Start your compare and contrast essay taking the following steps:
To start writing an essay, you should have a topic. Generating a topic can be very time taking and daunting. You cannot just randomly come up with a topic and start writing your essay.
The objects or subjects you choose to compare should be the same, yet different in nature at the same time to draw a comparison. Brainstorm ideas that fascinate you or interest you and you know that the audience will like it as well.
It is important to keep in mind that any topic you choose should be selected keeping in mind the targeted audience. Eventually, you want your essay to be read by the maximum number of people, so the topic should interest them.
If you have already been assigned a topic for your essay by the instructor you don’t have much choice so just understand the guidelines and requirements provided.
Once you have a topic in hand, start gathering ideas and information. Roughly list down the similarities and differences that are obvious and you already know. After you have done writing them, expand your research and gather information from books, the internet, etc. related to the topic.
Now look for the similarities and differences that were not obvious and the deep studies and research have figured them out. List them down as well.
You can either make a list of all the similarities and differences or can make a Venn diagram for it. A Venn diagram includes two circles whose specific sections overlap each other. The overlapped section shows the similarities and the secluded sections are the differences.
After gathering information that you think is enough for your essay, find an approach that you will use to present the gathered data. There are two common approaches used to draft a compare and contrast essay: the block method and the alternating method.
Alternating Method
An alternating method is an approach that uses a point by point description of the subject’s or object’s comparison. In this, a writer presents a certain idea about one object and the same idea about the second object simultaneously.
Block Method
A block method uses a subject by subject technique to describe and compare objects.
According to this approach, all of the information about one object or subject is presented first followed by the information and data regarding the other subject matter.
It is up to the writer to decide which approach will work best for his compare and contrast essay.
In order to draft a great compare and contrast essay, a proper writing format should be followed. There is a sequence in which your essay writing process should take place. Once you have a proper plan, the writing procedure gets simpler.
After taking all the mandatory pre-writing steps, start writing your compare and contrast essay in the following manner.
The first part to draft in the essay is its introduction. It is the first thing that a reader witness. The introduction is given to introduce the topic on which your essay is based. This is to inform the readers about what is coming next.
The introductory paragraphs have three elements:
Thesis statements can be difficult to draft as they should be accurate and on point. It is important to have an understanding of a thesis statement and how to draft it.
Main Body
The main body of an essay is the section where all the gathered information is presented in a very structured way. The body paragraphs are written to prove the thesis statement and the stance that a writer made about the topic.
According to the approach and techniques selected, arrange your points in paragraphs. Each paragraph that is written should have a topic sentence that will work as a preview of what is going to be discussed in that particular paragraph.
In a compare and contrast essay, body paragraphs are connected by transition words. Words such as “similarly, in contrast to, however, likewise, both”, etc. are frequently used that combines the whole content together, giving a logical flow to it.
Conclusion
All of the paragraphs of the body section lead the readers towards a conclusion or a result. The conclusion of a compare and contrast essay is the summed up final verdict of the writer.
In concluding paragraphs of an essay, the major points are summarized and the thesis statement is restated. Make sure that you slowly and gradually build the conclusion of your essay.
The last part of the writing process of an essay is its proofreading and revision. In this step, you go through your essay one more time to see if there are any mistakes and errors.
To make your compare and contrast essay flawless make sure the vocabulary, grammar, spellings, citation, facts, syntax, format, are accurate and appropriate. Also, check if the objects are carefully compared, contrasted and written. If you come across some errors, correct them before submitting the essay to your instructor.
If you are worried about writing a compare and contrast essay because you don’t have a strong topic, here are some topic examples for you from professionals:
These are some good compare and contrast essay topics that will help you draft an amazing essay.
To give our students a better understanding of compare and contrast essay concepts, we have gathered some useful examples.
Compare and Contrast Essay Template (PDF)
Compare and Contrast Essay Example (PDF)
When students write for their academics, they should be extra careful about getting things right. It is always suggested to first understand the assignments before you start doing them. If you find it difficult to draft multiple essays for your academics, feel free to take online help.
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