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Compare and contrast essay equips student with knowledge to decipher good from right, and bad from wrong. To compare in this situation means exploring the similarities between two subjects, but contrast means looking at their differences. The analysis is important in academics as it is the basis of learning. Our professional essay writing service gives insight into these essays and offers guidance, especially in technical essays. If you need guidance in essay development, writing and editing, we are here to help.

The Basis of a Compare and Contrast Essay

The central point is where a good compare and contrast essay focuses on and explains the importance of the analysis implications. Understanding how to write a compare and contrast essay thesis involves brainstorming for your essay ideas and finding a central theme in your essay.

The compare and contrast essay is common among students in college and university. At this point, professors usually challenge their students to use some of their skills, like analytical and comparative skills. Students must pay close attention to the subjects that they are comparing. This type of essay task helps students construct the frame of reference, thus making meaningful arguments per the subject.

Finding the Best Topics to Use in Your Compare and Contrast Essay

When picking a topic for your essay, remember that the subjects must be in a moderate range. This is because similarities points will be little or none at all. The many similarities also imply the same thing, resulting in poor contrast points in your compare and contrast essay. For example, how to write a compare and contrast essay about two composers is better than writing an essay about a singer and a writer.

You need to pick a topic you are passionate about, not something boring and dull. 

Below are pointers that are excellent in helping you in the brainstorming process:

• Pick categories – choose the topic you want to write on in your compare and contrast essay. Take, for instance, topics about animals, economics, or films, then compare and contrast the subjects under your chosen category. The categories can be wild animals vs. domesticated animals, star trek compared and contrasted to star wars, and public institutions compared and contrasted to private institutions. 
• Radom surprising fact – dig up facts that can make significant and exciting points. For example, “Chicken can be linked back to the dinosaurs; did you know this?” 
• Movies vs Books – in most cases, books will always be better than movies – unless the film is Lord of the Rings or Blade Runner. If you are a lover of pop culture, thus you can compare movies and books or even comics and video games.

Good and Interesting Ideas You Should Consider

• Learning and classroom learning
• Compare and contrast a research paper and creative essay writing 
• Write a compare and contrast essay giving the differences and the similarities of a master’s and a bachelor’s degree
• Write a compare and contrast essay presenting the USA and the UK’s differences 
• Doing assignments at home compared to doing them at the library. Which is the most efficient?
• Base your information on married and unmarried couples, write a compare and contrast essay and present their similarities. 
• Difference between EU and the US colleges 
• Write a compare and contrast essay about an internship paper to that of a research essay paper
• Basing your information on American English to that of Canada, write a compare and contrast essay
• Write a compare and contrast essay on ASEAN and the EU

How to Pick Contrast and Compare Essay Topics

At the point of knowing how to write a compare and contrast essay, your topics are supposed to be ready. The first step is picking a blank paper and creating a list of two columns. One column contains similarities, while the other has differences. Note the key and most striking things without jotting down the most important points. Then incorporate your imagination and try and look through different angles.

If you are a learner who is visually based, creating a virtual diagram can be a good idea in your case so that you can create a virtual image drawn to overlapping circles. In the part where the circles overlap, jot down the similar points (similarities) and then the differences in the other parts.

Let’s take a look at an example that is very simple. Place one of the subjects in the orange section and another in the apple section. The oranges are originally from India and have a thick peel. These are the characteristics that only pertain to oranges. These are the characteristics of oranges; thus, the oranges section notes the similarities. Apples are thin, and they come from Turkey or Kazakhstan. In the overlapping section, let’s place both characteristics of both fruits.

An apple is a subtropical fruit, and an orange is a tropical fruit; thus, you are supposed to identify both fruit characteristics in the overlapping section and can say that the section’s characteristics are fruits that can grow on trees and be juiced. This example is simple and good because it presets how the most complex examples can be disentangled and clearer.

Example of Contrast and Compare Essays

This visual format helps to organize the differences and similarities and makes writing easy. The diagrams’ purpose is to give a simpler version of thoughts and ideas, making the compare and contrast writing process easy. 

Another way to understand how to write a compare and contrast essay thesis ideas is to arrange a two-column list systematically; for each topic idea, create a column and compare each in the columns simultaneously. This idea collection format will ease the writing process of your compare-and-contrast essay. The task will be simple as you will have all the information in your mind and the points to compare jotted down, thus having a reference point. The format will also fasten the process.

One mistake you should keep off is noting the similarities and differences for each subject. Sometimes most students get carried away in listing the similarities and differences that they get lost in this task; thus, when they write their essay, it seems like the essay is just the makeup of a list of grocery stores. The compare and contrast essay should be more based on comparing the similarities and differences. 

How to Write a Compare and Contrast Essay Structure

Compare and contrast essays are usually based on the factual analysis that a writer is supposed to present. Two methods that are used in the outline process can help you put your facts in a mannerly order; the methods are: the point-by-point stricter and the other is block method. The two can be used when writing a compare-and-contrast essay outline.

When you put into use the block structure, each piece of data presented is for the first subject, and the details and the characteristics in the essay are supposed to be clearly explained. This is supposed to be followed in the first block. Then the second block follows, and here you present the second subject.

In the point-by-point structure, every difference and similarity in the essay is noted simultaneously – thus, each subject’s notes are to be made. Take, for instance, jotting down the similarities and the differences and not forgetting the specific characteristics of the main topic of the compare and contrast essay. 

The above two formats have rules that are to be followed. Compared to the point-by-point format, the block format is simpler when it comes to writing. You present all the information concerning the two subjects in points form, and then you leave the reader to make the comparison. The point-by-point format here is supposed to give an analysis of the points personally, thus presenting the differences and noting the similarities so that the person reading your compare and contrast essay will easily and clearly understand the content of your work. 

In each format, below is a detailed structure of how you are supposed to write your compare and contrast essay.

The Point-By-Point Format

The Introduction 

• Introduce the main point of your essay
• The theme of your essay; specify it.
• Conclude the introduction of your compare and contrast essay with a thesis statement – this should cover all the areas in your essay 

A good example of a thesis statement:

Motorcycles and cars as transport means are usually excellent. For the choice to be good, it depends on somebody’s lifestyle and the location of residence.

Paragraph of the body.1 – Lifestyle 

·        The Topic Sentence: 

How cars and motorcycles influence the owners’ lifestyle 

·        Topic 1 – motorcycle

Argument: motorcycle storage is easy due to the size

Argument: learning how to ride a motorcycle is easy; riding a motorcycle is also easy.

·        Topic 2– cars 

Argument: you can consider a car like a second home due to its size

Argument: it will take time to be an expert in driving.

Paragraph of the body.2 – finances 

·        Topic sentence: motorcycles are cheaper when compared to cars

·        The topic.1 – motorcycles 

Argument: getting a strong motorcycle for as low as 300$ is possible

Argument: number of parts in a motorcycle is few; thus, fixing is easy 

·        Topic. 2 – cars 

Argument: if something breaks, the parts are expensive to fix 

Argument: as compared to motorcycles, cars consume more gas

Paragraph of the body.3 –location of residence 

· Topic sentence: cars are better in places where there are wide and big good-condition roads

·        Topic.1 – motorcycles 

Argument: Riding a motorcycle is more risky than driving when maneuvering in a big city.

Argument: motorcycles are a better advantage in cities like Rome, all streets being narrow make it an advantage to have a motorcycle 

·        Topic.2 – cars 

Arguments: large cities are easy to navigate through with cars.

Arguments: when using a vehicle, navigating outside the city is much easier 

The Block Method

The Introduction

• Introduce you main your main topic 
• The theme of your compare and contrast essay specify it. 
• Conclude the introduction of your compare and contrast essay with a thesis statement, and this should cover all the areas in your essay 

A good example of a thesis statement:

Motorcycles and cars as transport means are usually excellent. For the choice to be good, it depends on somebody’s lifestyle and the location of residence.

Paragraph of the Body 1 – Lifestyle

· The topic sentence: motorcycles than cars impact the owners’ lifestyle 

· Topic 1 – motorcycle

Argument: motorcycle by size is more comfortable to store 

Argument: motorcycles are easy to learn and use 

· Topic 2- cars 

Argument: in terms of size, cars are like a second home 

Argument: for one to learn how to become an ideal driver, it takes time 

Paragraph of the Body 2 – Lifestyle

·        The topic sentence: 

How cars and motorcycles influence the owners’ lifestyle 

·        Topic 1 – motorcycle

Argument: motorcycle storage is easy due to the size

Argument: learning how to ride a motorcycle is easy; riding a motorcycle is also easy.

·        Topic 2– cars 

Argument: you can consider a car like a second home due to its size

Argument: it will take time to be an expert in driving.

Paragraph of the Body. 3– Finances

·        Topic sentence: motorcycles are cheaper when compared to cars

·        Topic. 1 – motorcycles 

Argument: getting a strong motorcycle for as low as 300$ is possible

Argument: number of parts of a motorcycle is few; thus, fixing is easy 

·        Topic. 2 – cars 

Argument: if something breaks, the parts are expensive to fix 

Argument: compared to motorcycles, cars consume more gas

Paragraph of the Body 3

In this paragraph, you are supposed to give comparisons and evaluations showing why they are important. It can be an intense thing to provide a lot of facts. Give the reader real-life applications of the information in your compare-and-contrast essay. 

Before the start of your essay, you can create the outline according to the selected structure. The basic structure is having the introduction, the 3-paragraphs of the body, and the conclusion. But if you need to explain your arguments more comprehensively, you can add more paragraphs. 

Using the special transition words is what we advise because, overall, the paper will improve. Once sections that compare two subjects are done, you can add the following words. 

Show Evidence 

Arguments and claims for all essays, even in the compare and contrast essay or psychology essay writing, need to use sufficient evidence to support the opinions. It would be best if you took advantage of books, magazines, newspapers, movies, newspaper articles, and even personal experiences or other things that will support the credibility of your paper. 

Compare and Contrast Essay Examples

Now that you know the information pertaining to the compare and contrast essay, let us dive into examples of compare and contrast essays. You can get a good idea and image of the essay. 

China and the UK, Comparison between the Two 

Many countries around the globe have diverse cultural practices, and each differs from another. The different cultures sometimes impact the development and relationships in working areas. Geert Hofstede developed a structured method based on comparing and contrasting the dimensions of the culture in different countries. His theory explains the community’s culture, followed by the members, the community’s values, and how their behaviours and values interlink. He presents a way of giving a score so that he can distinguish people in countries around the world using: power distance, long-term orientation, indulgence, necessity avoidance, individualism, masculinity lastly, power of distance. Let us make a comparison of the UK and China – this will be based on Hofstadter’s six dimensions of culture 

1. Organic and non-organic foods 

Over the past years, demand for organic food has increased due to increased consumption rates. The popularity of organic food has increased, and the money spent on organic foods is higher than inorganic foods. From 2014-2015 the US noticed an increase of 10% spent on organic food (brown, n.p). This increase is due to how safer organic food is for consumption as compared to inorganic.

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