How to Start a Comparative Essay Like a Pro

Many students are tasked with writing a comparative essay, which can be challenging for some due to its unfamiliarity. Students often struggle to begin this type of essay but once they establish a strong start, the rest of the essay tends to flow smoothly.

As a result, students often seek guidance on how to start a comparative essay. A recent research gate study of 26 college students suggested that 50% of them have rated themselves to have good essay writing abilities, including analytical and comparative essays.

Challenges and Solutions of Starting a Comparative Analysis Essay

Here are four common challenges a student faces while beginning a comparative essay.

Challenge	Solution
Choosing a Topic	Narrow down options and concentrate more on similarities and differences.
Thesis Statement Formation	Pick key points of comparison and craft a clear thesis statement.
Gather Sources	Search for credible sources and utilize academic libraries online.
Comparison Essay Structure	Pick a clear organizational structure and outline each point for comparison.

The author of this article also had a hard time with how to write a comparative analysis essay while he was in college. Here’s the story for you. One day out of nowhere, our class teacher assigned us the task of a comparative essay.

It was a new assignment so all of us was pretty confused on how we should go about it. First of all, I checked academic journals and book to find out any information on how to start a comparative essay.

Though we have limited resources on the internet at that time, they were still good to get me started. Also, I read a well-written hard copy of a comparative essay sample.

After spending time on researching, I decided to go exploring the topic of forbidden love in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Wuthering Heights.’ I thought they would make a good comparison. I was wrong as this topic took a lot from me to come up with a good thesis statement and it was even tougher to find some evidences to support my ideas in the essay.

Even organising this was not an easy a task, but I kept going till the first draft was ready. After that, I spend hours refining this draft and eventually, the hard work pays off in the form of a brilliant comparative essay.

Interestingly, I have also learned some tips and tricks on how to focus when writing an essay, but that’s something you can read separately.

The Purpose of Writing a Comparative Essay

Before we begin with understanding how to start a comparative essay, let’s first understand why you are required to work on such an assignment.

Primarily teachers want students to compare two or more subjects and form deeper understanding of them and form conclusions based on the analysis or assessment.

Such an essay helps students enhance critical thinking skills and develop a good understanding of complex subjects.

How to Start a Comparative Essay – 6 Easy Steps (Including Comparative Essay Outline)

Here are six simple steps from professional essay writers that you can use to get started with your comparative analysis essay.

Step 1: Pick a Good Topic

The first step in beginning a comparative essay is selecting a suitable topic. Two subjects can be chosen for comparison, as long as they have enough differences and similarities to allow for a meaningful analysis. 

Hence, you need to be very careful while choosing one from the many shortlisted comparative essay topics.

Step 2: Be Specific with Your Research

Take the time to select particular aspects that you wish to compare between the subjects you have chosen. This will assist you in creating a concise and meaningful comparative essay that is also manageable.

Step 3: Craft a Strong Thesis Statement

Make sure to develop a strong thesis statement that clearly lays out the main argument or concept of the essay. The thesis should encapsulate the main idea or point that will be discussed in the comparison essay.

If you are confused then using thesis statement generator can help. You will find most relatable topic sentences. As it is important that the thesis effectively directs the reader through the overall content of the essay by highlighting the key points and themes.

Step 4: Collect Enough Evidence

Similar to other essays, it is necessary to gather evidence to bolster the arguments presented in this essay. This evidence can include quotes, examples, or statistical data to demonstrate the validity of your perspective on the similarities and differences within the subject matter.

Step 5: Make a Good Comparative Essay Outline

Creating a well-structured outline is essential for your comparative essay. The outline should logically arrange your ideas and assist in maintaining a coherent flow of information. Remember to include an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion summarising your research.

Step 6: Go Through the Comparative Analysis Essay Example

Ensure you check out some examples before you begin writing. Doing so will enable you to understand how well you can tackle such a task among other things.. Perhaps, going through some compare-and-contrast essay examples is also not a bad idea.

Comparative Essay Examples Ideas on How to Write a Comparative Essay

Here are 10 ideas of comparative essay for you to consider.

1. You can compare and contrast the love and betrayal theme in Othello and Emily Bronte’s of Shakespeare.
2. You can go compare and contrast the leadership styles of two great leader Martin Luther King Jr and Mahatma Gandhi.
3. It’s also a good idea to go with comparing the use of symbolism in the two popular novels i.e. The Great Gatsby and Beloved.
4. Compare and contrast the techniques and themes of Impressionism and Cubism in visual art.
5. Compare and contrast the structure, instrumentation, and cultural differences between classical and jazz music.
6. You can compare the strengths and weaknesses of capitalism and socialism in promoting economic prosperity in developed countries.
7. Compare the democratic systems of the US to the Parliamentary system of the UK in terms of governance, representation, and more.
8. You can compare the differences and similarities between traditional classroom learning and online learning.
9. Comparing the approaches used by two countries to combat severe climate changes is also one of the good comparative essay ideas.
10. You can compare the cooking techniques and ingredients between Chinese and Japanese Cuisine.

A through research on these can also help you find an answer to how to write a compare and contrast essay well.

6 Hot Comparative Essay Topics to Make a Good Comparative Essay Structure

Here are 6 easy topics you can pick right now for your comparative essay:

1. Technological impacts in rural and urban settings.
2. Homeschooling vs. traditional schooling 
3. Democratic governance vs. authoritarian rule 
4. Workplace cultural diversity in Europe and Western countries. 
5. Usage of renewable energy sources vs using fossil fuels. 
6. The flaws in education system today vs. flaws in the older system.

Final Thoughts

Most of the time students find it difficult to begin writing a comparative analysis essay. That’s why they go searching for how to start a comparative essay or how to write a comparative essay as soon as they are assigned such a task.

Of course, that’s the right approach combined with shortlisting some good comparative essay topics, making comparative essay outlines, comparative essay structures, and more.

Also, going through some comparative essay examples or a concise comparative analysis essay example would help them in structuring their essay well. That’s what this whole article was all about. Hopefully, you have a great time reading it!