Writing a Unique and Impressive Compare and Contrast Essay
Kids, when they’re of age, are made to practice essay writing—starting from the easiest topics like “Myself” or “My family. The idea is usually to get them to be expressive and talk about their thoughts and opinions. Later on, they must adapt to writing on bigger topics that require a lot more involvement on their part. The point is essay writing is an absolute necessity, and it’s a skill instilled in most kids from an early age. However, since essay writing gets too mundane, they’re made to participate in various other activities as well.
That’s where the concept of comparison comes in. They’re often given two similar pictures and told to spot the differences between the two as an activity, and kids get pretty engaged in it as well. But, as a grown-up, the comparison activity seems to pale when you have to write tons of words comparing two things. That’s why you have the comparison and contrast essay type to help you in writing the said essay. They’re fairly easy, and once you get the hang of one or two similar essays, you can get started on your own. Let’s have a look.
What is a compare and contrast essay?
A compare and contrast essay is an efficient way of comparing two different subjects based on their similarities and differences. The main idea is to provide a detailed study on how the two subjects are related and yet have drastic differences or vice versa depending upon the subjects at hand. Remember when you’d just draw circles over the differences as a kid? Well, now you have to work a bit more comprehensively and put in the extra effort. First, you have to outline why you’ve picked these two specific topics among all and how your essay is significant.
Often, you may come across two unrelated subjects, but you have to compare nevertheless, or the situation can be vice versa. As in, there’s so much similarity that you can’t find any contrasting measure between the two. It can get confusing real fast; that’s why allow us to guide you on this journey and aid you so that you can do a good job and earn lots of praise. You might need to make do with an outline example so be able to get the gist of how to write.
Importance of a compare and contrast essay
If you’re aware of the concept of juxtaposition, a compare and contrast essay allows you to do just that. So it is when you take into consideration two subjects or domains by studying various aspects of them on paper. To write a compare and contrast paper efficiently, you need to make use of critical thinking. Furthermore, it also uses descriptive writing to analyze both the subjects and establish a relationship between the two. You must do a comparative study that gives an insight into the two topics you have chosen.
The purpose of a compare and contrast essay is to give your readers multiple viewpoints into the two chosen topics and to be able to distinguish between the similarities and differences. It’s particularly helpful when you’re addressing two topics that are too alike. You might think, why opt for a compare and contrast essay when you can do the same thing using an argumentative or persuasive essay. That is because a compare and contrast essay outline allows you to explore both topics equally instead of diverting all your attention towards a single topic which is pretty much done in an argumentative and persuasive essay.
What’s a Compare/Contrast Essay Outline?
A contrast essay outline is usually straightforward. All you need to do is pick which format will suit your essay as the perfect stage or foundation. However, if you have to pick a topic on your own, it can get pretty hefty so let us mention a few examples:
- Samsung and Apple
- Elon Musk and Thomas Edison
- Roman Empire and Greek Empire
You will notice an underlying element in each topic that binds the subjects together, which is the key to choosing your own topic.
Now an outline example will consist of two parts; a thesis and an organizational structure. Once you’ve chosen a topic, your thesis will be the basis of the two subjects. For instance, you may talk about non-renewable resources and how they’re harmful to the environment, so we ought to switch to renewable resources because they’re efficient and resourceful. Thus, your thesis statement will revolve around this concept.
On the other hand, your structure will consist of a typical essay structure; introduction, body, and conclusion. So your introduction paragraph will consist of the thesis statement and a discussion of what the essay entails. The body paragraphs will focus on the similarity and difference specifications. You can divide your content into three to four paragraphs as per your liking. Lastly, your concluding paragraph will give the final thoughts and ending statements where you wrap up the entire essay. This is what a typical comparative essay outline example will consist of.
How Does Compare and Contrast Outline Differ From Other Essay Types
As mentioned before, a comparative essay structure may mirror other essays such as that of cause and effect, descriptive, and argumentative essay outlines. So let’s address each one by one.
In an argumentative essay outline, you happen to discuss two subjects, just like in this essay. However, the stark difference is that in an argumentative essay, you’re only presenting the facts and not analyzing or comparing the two topics. That’s why we opt for contrast/compare essays instead of argumentative essays and comparative essay outline.
A descriptive essay outline consists of similar paragraphing, just that the content material differs hugely. For instance, in a descriptive essay, you’re only describing events or an object’s specifications. There’s no analysis or comparison drawn with any other aspect. Hence, descriptive essays are similar but differ from compare contrast essay outline.
A cause and effect essay outline is made of cascading topics. First, you describe a “cause” and then the resultant “effect” of the cause. Even though it follows similar paragraphing techniques for the introduction and conclusion, the main body is where all the differences are centered. A comparison essay outline focuses on each attribute of subjects one by one, whereas a cause and effect purely revolve around two basic concepts that are interlinked.
Comparison Essay Outline Do’s and Don’ts
Here’s a list of Do’s and Don’ts that you ought to follow to render an exceptional contrast and compare essay:
- Don’t forget to write your thesis statement. It serves as the foundation upon which you’re going to lay bare your entire essay.
- Do structure your essay outline as mentioned or taught
- Don’t write vague statements
- Do mention quotes where it seems necessary to you. But no in abundance.
- Do mention the reference and take care of the citation style
- Don’t force an argument; otherwise, you’d end up making it unclear and confusing for the reader
Finding the Best Compare and Contrast Essay Topics for You
We understand how difficult it can be to pick the right topic for you to base your compare and contrast essay on, so here are a few examples or samples that you can use or brainstorm upon further to derive your own topic:
- Remote learning vs. attending schools
- E-books vs. traditional books
- Christianity vs. Judaism
- Career success vs. right disciplines
- North and South Korea after the Civil War
- Feminism vs. gender equality
- Macroeconomics vs. Microeconomics
- Materialism vs. Spiritualism
- Netflix vs. HBO
- Computer games vs. Video games
- Movies vs. amines
- Horror movies vs. thrillers
Compare and Contrast Outline Example
We’ll go out on a limb and summarize the entire theme of compare and contrast essay outline for you so that you don’t have to dive deeper into it when you’re crunching for time. So follow these steps, and you should be good to go:
- Start off by brainstorming on the given topic using a Venn diagram. You’ve probably studied those in your mathematics course at some point in your academic life. A Venn diagram will allow you to easily distinguish between the similarities and differences.
- Now that you’ve narrowed down what you’d be writing about, develop a thesis statement that involves both your subjects, bring them under one umbrella
- An outline is the most crucial part of your essay. Without an outline, your essay will not have a proper structure, and that will not end well for you.
- Write the introduction. Use the tips above if you run into any confusion.
- For your body paragraphs, begin with a topic statement that defines either a similarity or difference of one of the subjects.
- Repeat number 5 for all body paragraphs until all of your content is covered.
- Write the conclusion of your compare and contrast essay.
Types of Compare and Contrast Essays
In case you didn’t know, multiple outlines can be followed for typical compare and contrast essays. These are suggestions of how you can structure your essay in an efficient manner. Allow us to brief you on the three ways:
Point-by-Point Method
A point-by-point method makes use of a point from both subjects is taken and then compared or contrasted against one another and so on forth. It is also called the alternating method. For instance, you’re writing about Samsung vs. Huawei. So, you can pick up the prolonged battery life aspect and compare phones’ performances from both companies. Then you can pick UI design as an aspect. You get the gist.
There’s a constant back and forth in this structuring, so it’d be best to use transitional phrases to make it easier for the readers.
Block Method
The block method is also known as the subject-by-subject method. As the name suggests, you first discuss all the similarities and differences of one subject in as many paragraphs as needed and replicate the process for the second subject accordingly. For instance, mention all points of your subject1, which can be outdoor sports, and then take up your subject2, which is indoor sports, highlight all subjects in the same manner.
This method often gets confusing for readers as you merge all the points in one place and so it can be hard to keep track. If you can create a link between the paragraphs that ought to help readers link the comparison or contrast.
Similarities and Differences
Now, this method can be similar to the alternating approach; however, the difference is that each subject gets addressed side by side. You’d be classifying each paragraph on the basis of similarities or differences rather than the subjects as a whole. You’d be talking about what the subjects have in common and the differences they possess.
This sort of method is useful for the type of compare and contrast essay outlines where you have to focus on the similarities and differences as a whole. Instead of focusing on the subjects themselves. For instance, while comparing Deep Learning and Machine Learning, you’ll talk about the shared domain and the learning techniques that are employed, which are obviously different for both subjects.
Compare and Contrast Essay Examples
Compare and contrast essays example are basically the outlines can differ by a slight margin. So you have to pay them considerate attention; otherwise, you could opt for a bombastic topic; however, you end up going off the rails because of the wrong structural format of your essay. So keep your eyes wide open when you study examples of various types that will greatly help you while working on your compare and contrast essay example.
Helpful Final Tips
- Research and brainstorming is the key to nailing down this type of essay
- Utilize every sort of preparation tool that can play a hand
- Draw up drafts until you have a clear idea of how you’re going to go about this
- Each draft needs to be thoroughly revised
- Proofread, proofread, proofread
- If all else fail, get help from a coursework writing service ASAP
