Preview

Compare or Contrast

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
955 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Compare or Contrast
Ground Floor Ignatius Hall x4473 www.wju.edu/arc/

Academic Resource Center Wheeling Jesuit University

How Do I Write a Comparison/Contrast Essay?
Comparison = Similarity Contrast = Difference

Comparisons are discussions in which a student finds similarities between two or more ideas or things; contrasts, ON THE OTHER HAND (a popular but overused transition between concepts) are discussions in which a student indicates differences between two or more ideas or things. As you might sense from the previous sentence, comparison/contrast essays can be very dull without the use of some imagination, particularly in the use of transitions. There are several ways of writing a comparison/contrast essay, all of which depend on the choices of topic and the direction of the thesis: Mainly contrasting? For example, if you want to talk about why dogs and cats are different, comparison probably shouldn’t be a major component of the paper; while comparisons ought to be acknowledged in a contrast-heavy paper, they needn’t be developed beyond a paragraph or two, and probably toward the beginning of the paper, before the “meat” of the thesis. Mainly comparing? A paper centered largely on similarities would, of course, take a different approach. Say the topic is dogs and cats, but the thesis attempts to discuss why dogs and cats are similar (because of their status as the most popular domestic animals, perhaps, or because of the comfort both can afford to human beings). In a paper emphasizing comparison, acknowledge the contrasts, then spend the majority of the time discussing the similarities.

Different Ways to Organize Ideas in a Comparison/Contrast Essay

Beyond determining that an essay’s emphasis is similarity or difference, you also need to decide how you will present these similarities and/or differences. Is it better to explore one side completely, then the other (Block-by-Block method), or is it better to investigate the two items to be compared or contrasted by

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    602.3.5-01 ETT4 Task 1

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages

    contrasting because they provide a quick way to see the similarities and differences of the…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Article Analysis

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages

    1. This essay is an essay of both comparison and contrast because the author points out the similarities while examining the differences. For example, having a cinema in both small town and big city is a similarity, but one cinema in small town showing three different movies at any one time, and a big city having more than one cinema, showing hundred different movies at once is a difference.…

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Compare/ Contrast

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Holocaust in a whole is about people trying to survive. Both “Broken Glass, Broken Lives” and “A Survivor Remembers” tell a story about a survival, only each story has a different survival. In the story “Broken Glass, Broken Lives” by Arnold Geier the general topic is to escape while he still can. The general topic in “A Survivor Remembers” is going day by gruesome day till you can’t anymore. These topics are different but yet the same; they both deal with some sort of survival. Mister Geier in “Broken Glass, Broken Lives” survives not being taken by the Nazis and avoids the terrifying events that could have happened to him but have happened to millions of others. Berek Laturas in “A Survivor Remembers” is a different kind of survivor. He went through all of the horrible events of the Holocaust but somehow by the end of the war he survived it all, which six million others didn’t. The occasion of both stories is almost the same. They both took place in Germany and during the Hitler era. However in “Broken Glass, Broken Lives” it was only at the rise of Hitler, “A Survivor Remembers” was throughout all the events of the Holocaust.…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Essays argument

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages

    While this essay is considered a “comparison/contrast” essay, that name can sometimes be misleading. Keep in mind that your thesis, and your essay, should be an argument.…

    • 270 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    For this segment, you will compare and contrast two different pieces of writing in preparation for eventually writing a compare-contrast essay. You will complete the Compare and Contrast Organizer to help you organize your thoughts.…

    • 6800 Words
    • 28 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The paper should be organized around your thesis (argument), which is the main point of the entire essay. When developing a thesis for a comparative paper, consider how a comparison of the works provides deeper insight into the topic of your paper (i.e., think about why you have chosen to look at these particular works in relation to one another). In your analysis, consider the relationships among the following elements:…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    While it is important that you establish that these films have both points of comparison and points of contrast, you should not spend equal portions of your essay comparing and contrasting. Most comparison essays do more of one than the other. The best idea is to spend more time on whichever — the differences or the similarities — you think are…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A comparison essay is an essay in which you emphasize the similarities, and a contrast essay is an essay in which you emphasize the differences. We use comparison and contrast thinking when trying to make a valid decision such as which university to attend, which car to buy, or whether to drive a car or take a bus or an airplane to a vacation site.…

    • 553 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Compare and contrast essays are characterized by a basis for comparison, points of comparison, and analogies. It is grouped by object (chunking) or by point (sequential). Comparison highlights the similarities between two or more similar objects while contrasting highlights the differences between two or more objects. When writing a compare/contrast essay, writers need to determine their purpose, consider their audience, consider the basis and points of comparison, consider their thesis statement, arrange and develop the comparison, and reach a conclusion. Compare and contrast is arranged emphatically.[8]…

    • 1402 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay Compare and Contrast

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages

    To compare and contrast essays can be a difficult thing to do. One might tend to look for similarities in essays and choose that way. You might focus on essays that are just blatantly obvious in their differences. But that would be too easy. However if one might choose essays that are different and then search to find out how they are the same may prove more entertaining. I chose “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” and “Just Walk on By.” These two appear to be totally different in all aspects. I chose these because they appear to be so extremely different that it would be challenging to find similarities.…

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Compare/ Contrast

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Of all the types of music that I enjoy, two of my favorites are gospel and Rhythm and Blues (R&B); however, gospel is my favorite. It is my favorite because it is uplifting and encouraging. On the other hand, I also like listening to R&B. For example, when it’s time to clean up and I’m dragging around, R&B always pumps me up and gets me ready and energized.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Compare/Contrast

    • 1806 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Out of all the characters in the book, I think my personality is the most similar to Beth. One of the similarities we have is that we both like to show our parents that were growing up and that were individual. At the beginning of the book when Beth was driving her family to the airport, she would try to act as if not going on the vacation didn't make her sad, she wanted to prove to her mom that she can handle being by herself for a long period of time. For example, when her mom said that she was sad that beth had to stay in the cold weather while the rest of the family was in the warm and beautiful Phuket, Beth answered with “I like the winter mom.” The reason she said this is because…

    • 1806 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    *Find one or two points to highlight again. *Come up with a creative way to end the compare/contrast essay. Topic/Expectation Introduction Body 1 Body 2 Body 3 Conclusion/Closing Conventions Format TOTAL Possible points 5 10 10 10 5…

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In my persuasive essay I can see where I am using more of a compare and contrast approach. I am comparing renting to buying as well as contrasting the two subjects. I am also using point by point to make my essay a strong persuasive essay. By pointing out the good and bad of each subject I am showing that I am not necessarily biased towards one or the other.…

    • 389 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The comparison and contrast essay is an essay that we write to distinguish between comparison and contrast and identify points of comparison. We can use both patterns of organization to plan and write an essay that compare or contrast and we can use typical comparison or contrast transition to increase coherence.…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays