logo

Compare And Contrast Essay: Writing Guide, Topics, and Paragraph Examples

Are you a searching bug roaming around to find a good resource on “how to write a compare and contrast essay?” Do you want the best of your essay and want to be on top of the rest? Is your deadline approaching, and you are messed up for writing a good piece of such sort? Well! Then you are at the right place. Continue reading this.

A compare and contrast essay looks at different aspects of topic sentences from a 360 angle. Such an essay writing process is not too challenging to write, and once the write-up is started, it paves the way spontaneously throughout. However, to report a good essay of such sort, one needs to follow a specific guideline and step-by-step approach stated at this moment. So, let’s not waste a single minute and jump to the main part of how to write a contrast paper. So what are you thinking? Read this blog and begin writing with a focused argument.

What Is A Compare And Contrast Essay?


This essay is defined as the rhetorical style of an essay that discusses similarities and differences between two or more ideas, concepts, places, items, events, persons or anything. 

This comparison and contrast are not just used in essay writing but also in other types of writing, and even when writing some paragraphs in academic writing, we usually use such kind. For example, such a comparison is necessary to clear a point and make a viewpoint clear. Contrast and compare essay clearly differentiate between a doubt and certainty for a reader on any specific topic. 

Purpose Of Compare And Contrast Essay Outline


The main objective of such an essay is to discuss the similarities and differences between two things. Contrast essays are not about one subject, the one that you wrote in middle school. These are more common in colleges and universities. Therefore, it usually answers the following complicated questions:

  1. In what way are the two things similar? 
  2. What are the similarities?

It also answers the following:

  1. In what way two things are dissimilar? 
  2. What are the dissimilarities?

How To Start A Compare And Contrast Essay?


Wondering how to start such an essay? Well, some prewriting steps need to be followed before writing the actual draft. Without knowing these steps, you might never be ready to write and write with interest. So let’s discuss these steps. 

  1. Early Startup 
  2. Brainstorming ideas for contrast essay topics
  3. Research
  4. Outlining the essay 
  5. Review 

We will dive into the details now: 

Early Startup

Most of the time, the difficult resource to manage in the writing process is time. Therefore, it is always advisable to plan accordingly as some steps take a lot of time, so starting early is a good option. However, besides managing time, it is also advisable to plan for other things as well. Starting early is just one example. 

Similarly, starting early helps to avoid stress at the end when the deadline is approaching, but there is not enough time to proofread and edit the essay; hence, the write-up is usually erroneous because of this reason. 

Brainstorming Ideas for Contrast Essay Topics

After understanding the requirements, brainstorm ideas through the following questions:

  1. What topic should I be comparing and contrasting?
  2. What is to be added to it?
  3. What do I know about the topic sentences?
  4. What should be the structure of the write-up?

Questions like these will help set up some guidelines to follow whenever one feels lost while writing. The experts’ advice is to write down these ideas that one has brainstormed because, with time, these ideas get out of the mind and cannot be remembered, as we are humans. 

This list of ideas will also help to add the relevant ones to the main essay while at the same time, it will guide the way to perfect research on the right ideas hence saving time. Done with this part? Now dive into the research. 

Research

To form a strong basis for comparing and contrasting two or more things, it is mandatory to do strong and good research on that topic. Good research on the same subject is going to make the essay strong enough and reliable enough. Adding research in the main points of the essay enhances its acceptability. 

Similarly, while researching, make sure the sources from which data is taken are authentic enough to rely on. Also, one needs to keep track of these sources for reference purposes at the end if required. Find evidence and mention it in your next paragraph. 

Outlining The Essay

  1. What should be the word limit of the essay? 300-500 words? 
  2. Is the essay a short essay or longer? 
  3. How to structure an essay if it’s a long one? Is it a short one?

Questions like the above are answered by understanding the requirement of a comparative essay. After you have clearly understood the needs of the essay, consider these so the reader understands your narrative:

  1. 3 paragraphs could be enough for a short essay depending on the word count and can be one introduction body paragraph, one body paragraph, and one concluding paragraph. 
  2. 5 paragraphs are necessary for a long essay, including one introduction paragraph, three body paragraphs, and one concluding paragraph. 

Well, talking about the standard structure of an essay, it has the following format;

  1. Intro 
  2. Body Paragraph
  3. Conclusion 

Hence, such outlining is going to help you write the essay more easily. Also, an outline will always keep you on track to follow a proper structure. 

Order an Essay with Your Own Citation Style. We will Format It For Free:
  • AMA
  • APA
  • AMS
  • Chicago
  • MLA
  • Turbian
  • Harward
  • IEEE

Review

Review at the end of all the above steps is very important. This is going to decide the fate of your writing. A top-notch college essay writing service can provide a proper review if you lack proper knowledge to do so. This is because a good review will help correct the vocabulary, punctuation, errors in spelling, etc. It is also going to help in adding and removing ideas. 

Compare And Contrast Essay Introduction


After the pre-writing stages, now is the time to start with an introduction to the essay. An intro of a good essay ideally has the following elements integrated into it:

  1. Hook statement
  2. Background touch
  3. Thesis statement 

To start the introduction, the very first sentence, which is a hook statement, should be interesting enough to attract the reader’s attention and keep it till the end. It would be best if you start an introductory paragraph with:

  1. A question 
  2. A famous quotation 
  3. Interesting facts etc. 

All of these are going to be reflected in the ending statement of the paragraph or the thesis.

After being done with a hook statement, now is the time to proceed toward some background idea about the topic that you will compare and contrast. Give a very little touch of such background because the detail is provided in the essay’s body. 

After the two parts, the final part is the thesis statement of the essay or, ideally speaking, the ending statement of the intro paragraph. The thesis should be strong enough to reflect the entire discussion of the essay. Hence, while writing the statement, be concise and plan for a good thesis. 

Example:

Can you imagine a real alien existing here on this planet? When it comes to answering this question, it would simply be a no. However, some research articles show the existence of such creatures on planet earth. If so, how can humans and aliens be identified is a big question. There are many similarities and dissimilarities between the two creatures.

Done with how to write a good introduction to your essay? How this method works in the first half will be different from the second half. So now let’s move ahead to the essay writing guide on good topics. 

Compare And Contrast Essay Topics

A good compare essay topics are as follows:

  1. Aircraft Vs Airplanes; how are they different? How are they similar?
  2. Viruses Vs bacteria: which are the most dangerous?
  3. Down payment Vs Balloon payment; similarities and differences 
  4. Solar power and nuclear power: which one to choose?
  5. Safety Vs Security; similarities and differences 
  6. Mobile phones and TV: Which is a better option?
  7. College in a big city or college in my hometown? What to opt for?
  8. Spacecraft and rockets: are these one thing?
  9. Virtual classes vs physical classes
  10. Classes vs partying: what to do at the college level?
  11. Developing vs developed economies
  12. Psychologist and psychiatrist: similarities and differences.
  13. Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus vs insulin-independent diabetes mellitus
  14. CEO and Manager: what are the similarities? What are the differences?
  15. Leader vs CEO: who is what?
  16. Marketing vs advertising; In what way are they similar? In what way are they different?
  17. Parliamentary system vs presidential system: similarities and differences 
  18. Voting rights and civil rights; who include what? 
  19. Martin Luther King Jr vs Martin Luther King Senior 
  20. Work from home or work from the office: what’s better?
  21. Humans Vs Aliens
  22. Reality vs daydreaming; which is better?
  23. Being successful and being happy, what should you opt for?
  24. Being grown-up or being a child? Which time is the best?
  25. Diet vs exercise; which one to choose?
  26. Boys vs girls; who has the most power?
  27. Sub-conscious Vs conscious thought
  28. Introverts Vs extroverts 
  29. The role of the liver Vs the function of the kidneys 
  30. Cat or a dog? Which pet to go for?

Compare And Contrast Paragraph Examples

Some good paragraph examples for such an essay with important points are as follows:

  1. “There are different ways in which an aeroplane and aircraft are similar; however, there are still many ways they differ. The most obvious similarity is that they both fly. Secondly, they can work on the same basic principles, i.e. weight, lift, thrust and drag. The first difference highlights that aeroplanes are heavier than air aircraft while aircraft can be lighter than air. The second difference is that the former can fly only with machines or engines, while the latter can fly without being power-driven. The last difference is that the aeroplane is fixed-wing aircraft while an aircraft includes rotorcraft as well”. 
  2. “For identifying the severity of both types of diabetes, i.e. type I and II, we first need to understand the similarities and dissimilarities between the two. The foremost similarity is that both are disorders. The second similarity is that they both increase the blood sugar level of an individual. The dissimilarities are that the former is a genetic disorder while the latter is more related to diet. The second difference marks that type I is due to a self-induced protein produced by the body to eat the insulin cells while in type II, the high sugar intake affects the insulin cells in the body”. 
  3. My life now and two years back are almost similar, but it has some major differences. Two years ago, I resided in a hostel doing my degree, and now I’m a graduate doing a good job. My parents were earning for me, and I was supported by them two years ago. But now, I am supporting them. Back then, I was more into the outing and partying stuff, going to parties every weekend and being free of worries, but now, I am more mature and avoid all that stuff. I travelled to college and generally used public transport, but now I have a brand new car gift from my company. Life has changed a lot just in the past two years.
  4. There are many similarities between a leader and a CEO/manager; however, there are many differences too. A CEO is usually associated with a specific organization, while a leader is not like that. A leader has a lot of followers, while a CEO may not have them. Leadership has different types of them, while CEO has no types. 

Comparison And Contrast Signal Words


Some signal words used for comparison and contrast are as follows:

Comparison signal words:

  1. Similarly, 
  2. In a similar way
  3. At the same time
  4. In the same manner
  5. Just like 
  6. As
  7. Also
  8. And 
  9. The same 
  10. Just as 
  11. Both
  12. Like 
  13. Too
  14. As well as
  15. Same as 
  16. In the similar fashion 
  17. Equivalently 
  18. Most commonly 
  19. Have in common 
  20. In the same way 
  21. In an exact manner 

Contrast signal words:

  1. While
  2. Unless
  3. However
  4. Contrary 
  5. Contrary to this
  6. Unlike 
  7. Yet 
  8. But 
  9. As opposed to 
  10. Differently 
  11. On the other hand 
  12. Alternatively 
  13. Nevertheless
  14. On the contrary 
  15. Even though 
  16. A far cry from 
  17. Even though 
  18. Instead 
  19. In a reverse manner 
  20. Otherwise
  21. Conversely 
  22. Even so
  23. Instead 
  24. Except 
  25. In contrast
  26. Differently 
Need Help With Paper Formatting?

We only need your requirements to create an original paper with proper formatting.

How To End A Compare And Contrast Essay?

The final paragraph of such an essay holds a very strong position in the entire essay as the audience encounters it in the last, and the main thrust of the essay is to be reinforced in this paragraph. Here, the writer makes sure the audience goes in agreement with his point of view or main ideas. So, planning the end of the whole essay is very important. So here’s the guide:

Structure

The structure of an ending paragraph is opposite to that of the first body paragraph. As the introductory paragraph takes the reader from a broader to a narrower point of view, a concluding section brings the reader from a more limited to a more general viewpoint. For such an essay, the conclusion is the summary of the entire essay leaving the readers with a final thought; an image, a quotation mark, a question etc. Simply put, a clincher statement concludes the ending paragraph. 

Formulation Of Thesis Statement

A thesis statement, as explained earlier, is the entire crux of the essay and is at the end of an introductory paragraph, makes a specific claim related to the ideas in the essay. So, in conclusion, the thesis statement has to be reformulated by altering the thesis statement into a more synonymous sentence. A good advice is to use a thesis statement writing service to avoid sub-standard writing that will surely land you top grades. 

Style Of Use

A good essay is usually with a good academic style. A good and well-crafted essay always stands out. Hence, to have a strong ending paragraph, there should be strong figures of speech used such as metaphors, similes, figurative language etc. Conclusion: a conclusion should also feel complete, showing that the topic under discussion is completely disclosed. Words used confidently can display trust in the writing from the audience. 

A good essay is also concise, which is displayed in the conclusion of the essay. Conciseness will come from using good wording and academic style rather than being hazy in writing. The conclusion can also be in humour and is usually a loose paragraph leaving the reader craving deep thoughts, hope, and agreeing with your viewpoints.

Compare And Contrast Essay Outline


  1. Introduction 
    1. The general statement or a hook statement about the topic 
    2. State the background or the title, ideas etc. of the topic
    3. State a strong thesis statement 
      • Reflect the topic
      • Reflect on the entire essay 
      • State all the similarities and differences about the topic under discussion 
  2. Body paragraphs 
    1. Body Paragraph 1
      • Topic sentence: introducing the first similarity or difference 
      • Details: give a detailed account of both things, how they are similar and how not?
      • Examples: for clarity, do state examples.
      • Concluding statement: reflecting the idea discussed.
    2. Body Paragraph 2
      • Topic sentence: introducing the 2nd similarity or difference 
      • Details: give a detailed account of both things, how they are similar and how not?
      • Examples: for clarity, do state examples.
      • Concluding statement: reflecting the idea discussed. 
    3. Body Paragraph 3
      • Topic sentence: introducing the 3rd similarity or difference 
      • Details: give a detailed account of both things, how they are similar and how not?
      • Examples: for clarity, do state examples.
      • Concluding statement: reflecting the idea discussed. 
  3. Conclusion 
    • Restating the thesis 
    • Final thoughts 
    • Moving from narrow ideas to broader knowledge 
    • Clincher statement

Clincher At The End Of Compare And Contrast Essay

At the end of an essay, a clincher statement is the closing, final or summation statement that the writer adds. It is the final wordings that, again, reflect the main idea or the thesis. One can add a quotation, rhetorical question, or shocking statement to leave the audience craving.

A clincher statement typically adds provocation points that leave the audience thinking and wanting to know more about the situation. A good clincher refers back to the essay’s introduction. For example, if the essay begins with global warming and pollution, the clincher should call for action and recommendations. 

Revising

Revision means to see again regardless of the essay type. Although revising the essay is a difficult task, from restructuring the essay or paragraphs to clarifying ideas, still it provides the opportunity to determine that your content is worth reading, understandable, and clear to the audience. Revising prevents the overlapping circles of two or more subjects. After this step, your final draft is ready to be on your professor’s table for submission. 

Conclusion

Clear by now? We at perfect essay writing believe that the guide you were searching for has come your way with the help of our expert writers. We have tried our best to integrate each guide element into this write-up to make all of your points clear and fairly easy. However, if you still have confusion on differences, perfect essay writing services are always here to help you in a meaningful way.

FAQs
What is an example of comparison and contrast? How do you write a compare-and-contrast essay point-by-point? What is a good introduction for a compare and contrast essay? What is a compare and contrast paragraph? How do you start a compare and contrast paragraph? Which best describes the claim of a compare and contrast paragraph?
Related Blogs
Specialities Our Services
100% Moneyback Guaranteed.

We'll revise your work until you're 100% satisfied or refund your payment to make up for the trouble.

We are a team of professional writers providing quality-assured essays, research papers, and assignments. We bring the most affordable services for you with multiple revisions. Get plagiarism-free content with Turnitin pass and on-time delivery. We Create Great Content, Value, & Reliability!

Contact Information
1149 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90015, USA
sitelock
dmca
payment