Another thing to consider is your audience. Are you writing for a third grade class, or are you writing for college professors? Your audience will largely affect the tone and voice of your essay, as well as the words, phrases, and grammar you use throughout it.
In order to understand how to start an essay, you must first have a full understanding of what you’re going to be writing about. In a compare and contrast essay, you are discussing both the similarities and the differences between two subjects. While you may be someone who can start an essay off of the top of your head with no problem, many people find it easier to sit down and write out an outline before beginning. The order in which you introduce your points in your introduction is the order in which you should introduce them in your essay, so it’s good to have the framework completed before beginning. Knowing how to start a compare and contrast essay is the first step to writing an interesting essay that will keep readers engaged all the way to the end.
Once you have the framework of the essay, the rest of it will fall into place. The next time you’re staring at a blank Word document, make take out that old fashioned pen and paper and start making that outline! You’ll find that starting a compare and contrast essay is easier than you may have imagined.
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The Introduction
The introduction will also introduce the general outline of the essay. Let’s say the first paragraph is comparing and contrasting the people of the city and the country, the second paragraph is about the landscape and general aesthetic quality of the two, and the third paragraph is about what you can do for entertainment. You’ll mention all of this, and mention them in the order the paragraphs will be presented in.
The introduction should entice readers into reading your essay, so make sure you start out strong. You may begin by mentioning one interesting fact about one of the subjects, or by asking a question that will be answered later in the paper. An introduction should describe what the compare and contrast essay is about, so if you’re discussing the similarities and differences between vacationing in a city and vacationing in the country, be sure you make that clear. One key thing to remember: don’t say “in my essay I will be talking about this and this”. There are much more interesting ways to lead into your topic. Instead of saying “I’ll be discussing the similarities and differences between a vacation in the city and a vacation in the country”, you could say something like “What makes a city so unique? What draws people to the countryside? Though both are compelling in different ways, they hold more similarities than you may realize”. This statement may also double as your thesis, which is your view or stance on the particular topic at hand.
Once you know how long the essay must be, you must then determine exactly how you’re going to split up the topics. Are you going to have four paragraphs – an introduction, a paragraph on the first subject, a paragraph on the second subject, and a conclusion? Or maybe your four paragraphs will be an introduction, the similarities between the two subjects, the differences between the two subjects, and a conclusion? If you’re planning on writing a longer paper, maybe you’ll split it up into five different paragraphs – an introduction, unique aspects of the first subject, similarities between the two subjects, unique aspects of the second subject, and a conclusion. These aren’t the only options you have
Contrary to the popular belief, professors and teachers don’t assign essays just to keep you busy and destroy your social life. These assignments help you enhance certain skills and allow lecturers to assess them. After all, the main goal of education is to prepare you for adulthood and it is structured to help you adopt certain skills you’ll use later on. Below, you can see the important skills you develop with compare and contrast essays:
This type of essay requires an unbiased approach to the subject to show your ability to discuss similarities and differences without including your emotions and opinions into it. Throughout this guide, you’ll learn how to construct your compare and contrast and impress your teacher.
- Stick to the assignment – sometimes the essay assignment is just to compare something, or you may be required to discuss differences. In other cases, you need to do both. Regardless of the scenario, you should always stick to the assignment. If your task is to compare something, then focus on similarities rather than spending too much time on differences
- Identify meaningful comparison points – look for connections that truly matter and don’t waste your precious time on superficial comparison points. Let’s say you need to compare two books
As a student, you are used to the fact professors or teachers assign all sorts of tasks and essays. Compare and contrast essay is one of them.Areas of interest
- Literature
- Movies
- History
- Politics
- IT and social media
- Historical figures and personalities
- Music
- Science
- Religion
- Everyday life
- Ideas
- Social issues and changes
- Philosophy
- TV
- Strengthens memories – the essay requires focusing student thinking on analyzing pairs of ideas to compare or contrast them and it, thereby, strengthens your ability to remember key content
- Improves higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) – a concept popular in the American education system. The HOTS distinguishes critical thinking skills from low-order learning outcomes. These skills include analyzing, reasoning, synthesizing, application, comprehending, and evaluation. You develop all these skills with compare and contrast essays
- Writing skills – the paper strengthens your writing skills by providing a simple structure that helps you organize information and develop your ideas with greater precision and clarity
- Develops habits of mind – compare and contrast essay helps students develop habits of mind necessary for intelligent behavior and thought. These habits include thinking flexibly, metacognition (thinking about thinking), striving for accuracy, thinking and communicating with precision and clarity, and applying past knowledge to new situations
Instead of listing similarities and differences one after another, compare and contrast essay looks into their relationship and tells the story that connects subjects that seemed incomparable.
- Introduction
- How to Write Comparison Essay
- Select a relevant and informative topic
- Brainstorm similarities between your subjects
- Develop a thesis statement
- Essay structure
- Make an outline for your comparison essay
- Write your comparison essay
- Edit your comparison essay
- Comparison Essay Help
This is also known as subject to subject pattern. With this pattern, your body will have two sections. The first section will discuss the first subject. For example, if you are comparing Domino’s Pizza and KFC, the first section will discuss Domino’s Pizza. You may have three paragraphs discussing three comparisons about Domino’s Pizza.
Your introduction should be interesting. As a result, it should give your reader a good impression. It should start by grabbing the attention of your reader. For instance, it can be through a short story, a historical review, or a surprising statement about your topic. In the end, the last sentence in this paragraph should be your thesis statement.
- Introduction
- Body paragraphs
Introduction
After generating a list of similarities, settle on most relevant. Additionally, the selected similarities should be course relevant, informative, and most important. For example, if you are comparing two stories consider the plot, main theme, setting, and writing style.
The second section will discuss the second subject. In our example, the second section will discuss KFC. In this case, your essay will take the following structure
Comparison essays require you to focus on similarities certain things commonly two things. Instructors assign students comparison essays for three reasons. First, they want you to make connections between ideas. Second, they want to engage you in critical thinking. Third, they want you to learn more than just summary in generating good analysis.
Like other essay types, drafting a compare and contrast essay is based on some prewriting and writing steps. The prewriting phase of a compare and contrast essay plans out the whole essay for the writer and the reader.
The first section of a compare and contrast essay outline is the introductory paragraphs. This section carries the following information:
For example, if writing a high school versus college essay using the block method, discuss all the points related to high school and college points.
Each of the above-mentioned points can be in separate paragraphs. The major advantage of using a point by point method for your compare and contrast essay is that a reader clearly understands each point. discussed
Table of Contents
A compare and contrast essay uses the traditional essay outline. According to the standard outline, there are three components of an essay outline:
- Hook Statement - it is the first or the opening sentence of the introductory paragraph. Depending on the topic, choose a catchy statement for your introduction to make it interesting for the readers.
- Purpose - Every writing has a purpose, and stating it in the first place is important. This is to inform the readers about the writer’s reason for choosing a certain topic. The goal can be anything from just discussing differences to analyzing the similarities and differences correspondingly.
- Significance - To make your essay introduction strong and engaging, state the significance of the topic.
- Thesis Statement - A thesis statement is the writer’s main argument about the topic. A thesis statement comes at the end of the introduction section. It should be an arguable statement that vividly present’s the writer’s claim.
Forming an outline of the essay falls under the planning section as well. Continue reading the article to know how a perfect compare and contrast essay outline is drafted.
Furthermore, the subjects should be similar but different. This helps in creating a meaningful comparison essay. For instance, when you want to compare historical figures, choosing tow artists or two politicians is more sensible.
What if you still need more clarification on how to write a comparison essay? There is no need to worry. If you want to learn more about comparison essays, consider professional help. EssayMojo.com writing service is a good option for you. Our experienced writers will guide through writing a comparison essay.
This is just one way of doing it. Besides, you can use various charts to make it easy to identify similarities between subjects. By filling the boxes, you will be able to identify the similarities. It is important to think of what your instructor wants from you. Since, it will guide you in selecting a proper criterion.
This is also known as subject to subject pattern. With this pattern, your body will have two sections. The first section will discuss the first subject. For example, if you are comparing Domino’s Pizza and KFC, the first section will discuss Domino’s Pizza. You may have three paragraphs discussing three comparisons about Domino’s Pizza.
Select a relevant and informative topic
In our example, you will discuss both Domino’s Pizza and KFC together for every comparison point. This means that your first body paragraph will have a comparison point on both Domino’s Pizza and KFC. The second paragraph and the third paragraph the same.
Choose the main argument for your comparison essay. This will guide you through the essay. A good essay should always have a thesis statement. Sometimes it can be challenging to create a strong thesis statement. The good thing is that essay writers online can help you overcome this challenge. Expert writers can guide you through.
The second section will discuss the second subject. In our example, the second section will discuss KFC. In this case, your essay will take the following structure