

Regardless of the kind of essay you are writing, there are certain qualities of a good thesis An overall argument, idea, or belief that a writer uses as the basis for a work.: it must be specific, clearly state your main idea The most important or central thought of a reading selection. Without both aspects, it will be difficult to write an analysis that will make your essay meaningful. Remember, it is critical that there are points of overlap, or similarities, as well as differences between your topics. You could also make a chart that lists different qualities of each, or simply group information by how they are alike or different. Here is a very simple example of a Venn diagram.Ĭomparison of the benefits of dogs and cats as pets The overlapping part of the circles shows similarities the outer circles show differences or unique qualities. Common characteristics are written in the area of overlap, while unique characteristics are listed in the outer parts of each circle. For compare and contrast essays, a Venn diagram Overlapping circles used to diagram the similarities and differences between two or more things. There are many good ways to gather ideas for essays. If you are unsure about these questions, then gathering ideas will probably help you to decide. Do they have important similarities and/or differences? Will comparing them help to clarify something or lead to new insights about a subject? Once you are sure your subject is of the appropriate scope, be sure to carefully consider whether the two things you are writing about are a good match to the compare and contrast format. But comparing their foreign policies may not be, depending on how detailed the comparison is supposed to be. Comparing President Ronald Reagan to President Jimmy Carter, for example, is too broad for a five-page essay.

for the assignment, not too broad and not too narrow. ideas.įirst, make sure that your subject is of appropriate scope The extent or aims of a project. The objective is to create one great idea, or many ideas, on which to base a writing. If you must come up with your own subject, there are a few things you should consider before you start to brainstorm A prewriting technique where the author lists multiple ideas as he or she thinks of them, not considering one more than another until all ideas are captured.

If your instructor assigns you a specific subject to write about, then the next step in the process is to gather ideas. Make sure you understand what your instructor is asking for before you begin. In some cases, your instructor may only ask you to compare or contrast. like similarities, differences, alike, two, parallels, and disparities to make sure that you need to write a compare and contrast essay. Do you get to choose what to compare, or has your instructor given you a specific topic? You need to look for keywords Words that are important to understanding the meaning of a passage or reading. Read the guideline sheet or rubric A guideline that explicitly lays out the expectations and possible scores for an assignment.
POINT BY POINT COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY HOW TO
In this lesson, you will learn how to write a compare and contrast essay A written discussion of both the similarities and differences between people, objects, or ideas. Write a multi-paragraph compare and contrast essay.
