Be the Master of Compare and Contrast Essays | Grab Your Dream Scores!

Students may come across compare and contrast essay as an individual essay type or as a part of a large essay. To have impeccable writing of this type of essay, students should first understand its basics. As the name suggests, Compare and Contrast Essay is a type of essay that figures out similarities and differences between two or many essay topics. Students can find many aspects of this type similar to other essay types, yet there are some core differences.

Students always get confused and think about the purpose of the compare and contrast types of essays. Many topics define each other. Students can illustrate them better by showing the identities and differences between them. This clear comparison can help readers understand both the topics very well and the similarities and differences. So, students should focus on both the topics rather than explaining the single topic in detail.

• Topic Selection

Students should be more watchful while selecting the topic for compare and contrast essays, as they need to figure out such topics that have similarities and differences. Here are some tips for selecting the topic:

• Identify the Category

Select a type and then look for the subjects within that category for comparison.

E.g. If you are asked to write about the industrial sector, you select organizations as a type. Then you can find public sector organizations and private sector organizations.

• Get Amazing Facts

Surprising facts can enrich your topics.

• See Around

Observation of surroundings is a great key for imagination. Students can observe close things like books and movies to brainstorm for the essay topic.

Brainstorm the Similarities and Differences

Students can have a list of suggestions for the brainstorming step of this type of essay:

• Take a paper and make two columns for similarities and differences. List down all the key aspects in both columns. Take a new perspective and enhance your creative mind to discover more about what is hidden.
• Taking the help of the Venn diagram is a good option to visualize the differences and similarities.
• Do not list all differences or similarities of each subject in one shot. Instead, the comparison must be based on analysis, followed by the conclusion relating to both the subjects, using a proper format.

*Outline the Essay

Students should more concentrate on factual analysis while writing the compare and contrast essay. Either they can go with:

• Point-to-Point method- List each similarity and difference concurrently in both subjects.
• Block method — Each block illustrates the entire subject as a whole, including the introduction, characteristics, and conclusion.

The second illustrates the other. Both methods have their own pros and cons; students should go with the best suitable method. Evidence plays a significant role in this essay as it can back up your sayings. Students can use personal experiences, scholarly articles, and magazines to make the arguments reliable.

Essay writing itself is a challenge for many students. Additionally, comparing and finding differences between two topics is not less than overhead. However, students can learn and become masters of the art of writing compare and contrast essays after being well-versed with the tips shared above.