Writing 101: How to write a compare and contrast essay?
Compare and contrast essays do exactly what they say. They compare and contrast topics from various viewpoints, determining similarities and differences between the topics. Usually, the topics belong to the same category. For example, you will be asked to write a compare and contrast essay on two beverages or two tourist destinations in the same country.
This kind of essay seems fun and simple, but when you delve deeper, you will realize that it’s not that simple how you perceived it to be.
When writing a compare and contrast piece, writers need to be considered about many things other than just writing. It asks writers to explore ideas from every angle, analyze every bit of it, and present what they have perceived out of it on the paper coherently. Yeah, exactly! As if writing an essay on one topic wasn’t hard enough that now you’ve to write two of those! But as we said, it’s not a five-finger job; it can keep you up all night or ruin your semester, depending on your chosen subjects.
But fret not!
UK Essay help is here to the rescue!
UK Essay writers will make compare and contrast essays relatively easy to write by providing a simple step-by-step guide for you to follow.
Before diving in, let’s first discuss what exactly a compare and contrast essay is?
A compare and contrast essay focuses on the comparison between two topics. As the name suggests, it presents how the topics are different in some aspects and similar in others. The essay structure follows an introduction, body paragraphs that explain the two subjects before summing it all together with a conclusion.
What is the objective of a Compare and Contrast Essay?
Compare and contrast essays are usually assigned to middle and high school students to teach them the process of analytical academic writing. The objective of writing a compare or contrast essay is not to present the obvious facts but rather to highlight unexpected similarities and subtle differences between two ideas or topics.
It allows you to compare the two subjects simultaneously on the same paper. It asks the writer to use their critical thinking and analyze the subject from every angle. To write a successful compare and contrast essay, you must go beyond obvious description to dissect and explain the relationship between your topics. In addition, it provides information about political situations, current events, travel destinations, businesses or products.
How to write a Compare and Contrast Essay?
Like any type of essay, a compare and contrast essay contains arguments written according to a certain logical order for the readers to understand. Here’s how you can start your essay:
1. Start with brainstorming:
The good compare and contrast essays establish an in-depth analysis of certain subjects. This requires a lot of brainstorming before you start writing. First, pen down your thoughts in a Venn diagram to shortlist the potential essay topics. If you don’t know, a Venn diagram represents a set of overlapping circles meant to make a visual flow chart of a series of ideas and thoughts.
2. Write a thesis statement:
Once you’re done with the brainstorming, you will begin to comprehend the relationship between your subjects. This prewriting activity helps you to develop your thesis statement on which your arguments would be based. A well-constructed thesis statement acts as a roadmap for your essay.
3. Develop an Outline:
After brainstorming and prewriting exercises, the next step is the outline. A good compare and contrast essay follows a well-orchestrated logical order. And for that purpose, you need to make an outline. Like any other type of essay, this outline comprises the same pattern: the introduction, body paragraphs consist of heading and subheading, and conclusion. When writing your essay, make sure to stick to the outline throughout.
4. Writing stage
Once the planning is all done, start scribbling down your ideas. Give special attention to the introductory paragraph, as it lays a platform for your entire essay. Your introduction must include a hook, such as a rhetorical question or a powerful statement, a thesis statement and a context of your chosen topics.
After the introduction comes body paragraphs, these paragraphs are where writers make arguments, add evidence, and other supporting points to back the thesis statement. Assign each paragraph for describing one comparison or difference. Always start your paragraph with a topic statement. For example, if your topics are two tourist destinations and your paragraph topic is cuisine, you can begin by vaguely describing each destination’s popular cuisines. You can then dedicate at least two sentences to explain the similarities and two to explain the differences.
Finally, end your essay with a conclusion. Your conclusion needs to be straightforward, effective, and a short version of all the arguments you made earlier in the essay. You can also share your final insights and opinions to reinforce your thesis statement.
