What is a comparative essay?
All papers we provide are of the highest quality with a well-researched material, proper format and citation style.How to write a body paragraph for a compare and contrast essay
- In the introduction you state your thesis.
- Then you discuss both of your subjects together for each point of comparison and contrast.
- In the conclusion you restate the thesis and shortly summarize your essay.
How to write a conclusion for a compare and contrast essay
The thesis of your comparison/contrast paper is very important: it can help you create a focused argument and give your reader a road map so she/he doesnt get lost in the sea of points you are about to make. As in any paper, you will want to replace vague reports of your general topic (for example, This paper will compare and contrast two pizza places, or Peppers and Amante are similar in some ways and different in others, or Peppers and Amante are similar in many ways, but they have one major difference) with something more detailed and specific. For example, you might say, Peppers and Amante have similar prices and ingredients, but their atmospheres and willingness to deliver set them apart. What does that mean specifically regarding the comparison essay? Very simple: the subjects must be easy comparable, so you dont need to work too hard to point out their similarities or differences. For example: There are two recommended patterns for a comparison essay: point-by-point (or "alternating") pattern and subject-by-subject (or "block") pattern.
Heres a revision of the thesis mentioned earlier: The danger of this subject-by-subject organization is that your paper will simply be a list of points: a certain number of points (in my example, three) about one subject, then a certain number of points about another. This is usually not what college instructors are looking for in a papergenerally they want you to compare or contrast two or more things very directly, rather than just listing the traits the things have and leaving it up to the reader to reflect on how those traits are similar or different and why those similarities or differences matter. Thus, if you use the subject-by-subject form, you will probably want to have a very strong, analytical thesis and at least one body paragraph that ties all of your different points together. Block pattern is also known as "subject-by-subject comparison". According to this pattern, you will be required to separate the body of your compare and contrast essay in two parts.
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Rather than addressing things one subject at a time, you may wish to talk about one point of comparison at a time. There are two main ways this might play out, depending on how much you have to say about each of the things you are comparing. If you have just a little, you might, in a single paragraph, discuss how a certain point of comparison/contrast relates to all the items you are discussing. For example, I might describe, in one paragraph, what the prices are like at both Peppers and Amante; in the next paragraph, I might compare the ingredients available; in a third, I might contrast the atmospheres of the two restaurants. Sometimes you may want to use comparison/contrast techniques in your own pre-writing work to get ideas that you can later use for an argument, even if comparison/contrast isnt an official requirement for the paper youre writing.
For example, if you are writing a paper about Wordsworths Tintern Abbey and Coleridges Frost at Midnight, pointing out that they both have nature as a central theme is relevant (comparisons of poetry often talk about themes) but not terribly interesting; your class has probably already had many discussions about the Romantic poets fondness for nature. Talking about the different ways nature is depicted or the different aspects of nature that are emphasized might be more interesting and show a more sophisticated understanding of the poems. This handout will help you first to determine whether a particular assignment is asking for comparison/contrast and then to generate a list of similarities and differences, decide which similarities and differences to focus on, and organize your paper so that it will be clear and effective. It will also explain how you can (and why you should) develop a thesis that goes beyond Thing A and Thing B are similar in many ways but different in others. Note that these two methods can be combined; these two example paragraphs could both be part of the same essay, but its wise to use an essay outline to plan out which approach youre taking in each paragraph.
By assigning such essays, your instructors are encouraging you to make connections between texts or ideas, engage in critical thinking, and go beyond mere description or summary to generate interesting analysis: when you reflect on similarities and differences, you gain a deeper understanding of the items you are comparing, their relationship to each other, and what is most important about them. A subject-by-subject structure can be a logical choice if you are writing what is sometimes called a lens comparison, in which you use one subject or item (which isnt really your main topic) to better understand another item (which is). For example, you might be asked to compare a poem youve already covered thoroughly in class with one you are reading on your own. It might make sense to give a brief summary of your main ideas about the first poem (this would be your first subject, the lens), and then spend most of your paper discussing how those points are similar to or different from your ideas about the second. The body paragraphs in this type of essay can take any form, so students are free to select a body paragraph structure that best suits them. If you, for example, stick with the block structure when comparing two poems, make sure to explain the first poem in paragraphs one and two, before moving on to explaining the second one in paragraphs three and four.
Writing the compare and contrast essay is pretty much the same: you should critically analyze two or more topics by comparing their similarities and differences before drawing a conclusion at the end of allowing the reader to have a clear understanding of the subject. The introduction of an essay is very important. It gives the reader his/her first impression of the comparison essays text. Remember: first impression counts! Ø Using the grading scale on each template, randomly score each vendor. Total up your ratings for each vendor to help make your comparisons. Write the names of the vendors you are comparing in the watermark space provided in vendor columns vendor. In your career as a student, youll encounter many different kinds of writing assignments, each with its own requirements. One of the most common is the comparison/contrast essay, in which you focus on the ways in which certain things or ideasusually two of themare similar to (this is the comparison) and/or different from (this is the contrast) one another.
Here, like in any other essay, you start with a first paragraph, which in this case is called the compare and contrast essay introduction and comprises three parts. In case you are writing about two different novels, Text 1 should be focusing on the first novel, while Text 2 should be concentrating on the second one. All you need to do at this stage is basically look into the similarities between the two texts, e. g. , you could expound on why some of the other novel's characters are tragic heroes by explaining it in paragraph two and paragraph 4, while in paragraphs three and five you can indicate the different reasons that led to the downfall of each of the two novels' characters.
Read our article a couple of times and start writing like a pro. And if something goes wrong - you can always buy a compare and contrast essay from our team! Be careful, thoughalthough this thesis is fairly specific and does propose a simple argument (that atmosphere and delivery make the two pizza places different), your instructor will often be looking for a bit more analysis. In this case, the obvious question is So what? Why should anyone care that Peppers and Amante are different in this way? One might also wonder why the writer chose those two particular pizza places to comparewhy not Papa Johns, Dominos, or Pizza Hut? Again, thinking about the context the class provides may help you answer such questions and make a stronger argument.
The conclusion of a comparison essay is just as important as the introduction. The conclusion seals the comparison essay and tries to close the issue. Conclusion is the last part of the essay that your reader will experience. Comparing and contrasting is also used in all kinds of academic contexts where its not explicitly prompted. For example, a literature review involves comparing and contrasting different studies on your topic, and an argumentative essay may involve weighing up the pros and cons of different arguments. Comparing and contrasting is also a useful approach in all kinds of academic writing: You might compare different studies in a literature review, weigh up different arguments in an argumentative essay, or consider different theoretical approaches in a theoretical framework. This is why its important to clarify the point of your comparisons by writing a focused thesis statement. Every element of an essay should serve your central argument in some way. Consider what youre trying to accomplish with any comparisons you make, and be sure to make this clear to the reader. We hope that we've provided enough tips for you to feel confident about your writing abilities.
For example, if you wanted to argue that Fryes account of oppression is better than both de Beauvoirs and Bartkys, comparing and contrasting the main arguments of those three authors might help you construct your evaluationeven though the topic may not have asked for comparison/contrast and the lists of similarities and differences you generate may not appear anywhere in the final draft of your paper. Usually, the requirements for the comparison and contrast essay can be different, depending on the type of topic given or chosen. As a rule, you are supposed to analyze two or more topics by pointing out the differences and similarities between them and drawing a conclusion at the end. Your overall goal here is to clear out misunderstandings, inform the reader of what they are not aware of, and support your argument with facts. You need to make sure that your audience understands how the compared subjects are interconnected and also provide an attention grabber to capture their focus and draw them in. Sometimes a particular point of comparison or contrast might be relevant but not terribly revealing or interesting.
Begin by saying everything you have to say about the first subject you are discussing, then move on and make all the points you want to make about the second subject (and after that, the third, and so on, if youre comparing/contrasting more than two things). If the paper is short, you might be able to fit all of your points about each item into a single paragraph, but its more likely that youd have several paragraphs per item. Using our pizza place comparison/contrast as an example, after the introduction, you might have a paragraph about the ingredients available at Peppers, a paragraph about its location, and a paragraph about its ambience. Then youd have three similar paragraphs about Amante, followed by your conclusion. Your subjects might be very different or quite similar, but its important that there be meaningful grounds for comparison. You can probably describe many differences between a cat and a bicycle, but there isnt really any connection between them to justify the comparison.
To help your reader keep track of where you are in the comparison/contrast, youll want to be sure that your transitions and topic sentences are especially strong. Your thesis should already have given the reader an idea of the points youll be making and the organization youll be using, but you can help her/him out with some extra cues. The following words may be helpful to you in signaling your intentions: In the alternating method, you structure your text according to what aspect youre comparing. You cover both your subjects side by side in terms of a specific point of comparison. Your text is structured like this: In order to create an excellent essay, we need to establish what a compare and contrast essay is first. Our life is all about comparing, so when we, for example, face a choice of buying apples or pears, our decision will probably be influenced by a number of factors. And unless it is impulse buying, when a person purchases something just after taking a quick glance at it, options are usually carefully weighed up.
Alternating pattern is also known as "point-by-point comparison". This mode of comparison will result in your essay having 5 paragraphs. Alternating pattern is also known as "point-by-point comparison". This mode of comparison will result in your essay having 5 paragraphs.