How to Write a Compare-and-Contrast Essay,Introduction
WebIn the most common compare-and-contrast paper—one focusing on differences—you can indicate the precise relationship between A and B by using the word "whereas" in your Web Compare and Contrast Essay Topics About Scientific Research. Hubble Telescope vs. James Webb Telescope. Stem Cell Therapy vs. Stem Cell Transplant. Cloning vs. WebThere is no way that it is going to spoil your academic reputation, and students can get a free price quotation right blogger.com conclusion, the truth is that it is very easy to get cheap Missing: compare and contrast WebDescription. This is a resource I created to support my 3rd graders in writing a compare and contrast essay. It starts with guided notes about each part of the essay and WebJun 9, · Write an essay that compares and contrasts them on three points (a specific dish would be one point, of course; atmosphere might be another). write an essay that ... read more
Following is a list of topics for compare and contrast essays that you are welcome to use in your classroom. As you look through the list you will see that some items are academic in nature while others are included for interest-building and fun writing activities. Share Flipboard Email. By Melissa Kelly Melissa Kelly. Melissa Kelly, M. Learn about our Editorial Process. Brainstorming Tip One fun way to get students started brainstorming their compare and contrast essays is to create a Venn diagram , where the overlapping sections of the circle contain similarities and the non-overlapping areas contain the differing traits.
Cite this Article Format. Kelly, Melissa. copy citation. Watch Now: How to Choose Genre, topic, and Scope for an Essay. Beef Up Critical Thinking and Writing Skills: Comparison Essays. How to Teach the Compare and Contrast Essay. Why not pears and bananas? The rationale behind your choice, the grounds for comparison , lets your reader know why your choice is deliberate and meaningful, not random. For instance, in a paper asking how the "discourse of domesticity" has been used in the abortion debate, the grounds for comparison are obvious; the issue has two conflicting sides, pro-choice and pro-life. In a paper comparing the effects of acid rain on two forest sites, your choice of sites is less obvious. A paper focusing on similarly aged forest stands in Maine and the Catskills will be set up differently from one comparing a new forest stand in the White Mountains with an old forest in the same region.
You need to indicate the reasoning behind your choice. The grounds for comparison anticipates the comparative nature of your thesis. As in any argumentative paper, your thesis statement will convey the gist of your argument, which necessarily follows from your frame of reference. But in a compare-and-contrast, the thesis depends on how the two things you've chosen to compare actually relate to one another. Do they extend, corroborate, complicate, contradict, correct, or debate one another? In the most common compare-and-contrast paper—one focusing on differences—you can indicate the precise relationship between A and B by using the word "whereas" in your thesis:. Whereas Camus perceives ideology as secondary to the need to address a specific historical moment of colonialism, Fanon perceives a revolutionary ideology as the impetus to reshape Algeria's history in a direction toward independence.
Whether your paper focuses primarily on difference or similarity, you need to make the relationship between A and B clear in your thesis. This relationship is at the heart of any compare-and-contrast paper. Organizational Scheme. Your introduction will include your frame of reference, grounds for comparison, and thesis. There are two basic ways to organize the body of your paper. If you think that B extends A, you'll probably use a text-by-text scheme; if you see A and B engaged in debate, a point-by-point scheme will draw attention to the conflict. Be aware, however, that the point-by- point scheme can come off as a ping-pong game.
You can avoid this effect by grouping more than one point together, thereby cutting down on the number of times you alternate from A to B. But no matter which organizational scheme you choose, you need not give equal time to similarities and differences. In fact, your paper will be more interesting if you get to the heart of your argument as quickly as possible. Thus, a paper on two evolutionary theorists' different interpretations of specific archaeological findings might have as few as two or three sentences in the introduction on similarities and at most a paragraph or two to set up the contrast between the theorists' positions.
The rest of the paper, whether organized text- by-text or point-by-point, will treat the two theorists' differences. You can organize a classic compare-and-contrast paper either text-by-text or point-by-point. But in a "lens" comparison, in which you spend significantly less time on A the lens than on B the focal text , you almost always organize text-by-text. That's because A and B are not strictly comparable: A is merely a tool for helping you discover whether or not B's nature is actually what expectations have led you to believe it is. Linking of A and B. All argumentative papers require you to link each point in the argument back to the thesis. Without such links, your reader will be unable to see how new sections logically and systematically advance your argument.
In a compare-and contrast, you also need to make links between A and B in the body of your essay if you want your paper to hold together. As a girl raised in the faded glory of the Old South, amid mystical tales of magnolias and moonlight, the mother remains part of a dying generation.
Throughout your academic career, you'll be asked to write papers in which you compare and contrast two things: two texts, two theories, two historical figures, two scientific processes, and so on. In the "lens" or "keyhole" comparison, in which you weight A less heavily than B, you use A as a lens through which to view B. Just as looking through a pair of glasses changes the way you see an object, using A as a framework for understanding B changes the way you see B. Lens comparisons are useful for illuminating, critiquing, or challenging the stability of a thing that, before the analysis, seemed perfectly understood. Often, lens comparisons take time into account: earlier texts, events, or historical figures may illuminate later ones, and vice versa.
Faced with a daunting list of seemingly unrelated similarities and differences, you may feel confused about how to construct a paper that isn't just a mechanical exercise in which you first state all the features that A and B have in common, and then state all the ways in which A and B are different. Predictably, the thesis of such a paper is usually an assertion that A and B are very similar yet not so similar after all. To write a good compare-and-contrast paper, you must take your raw data—the similarities and differences you've observed—and make them cohere into a meaningful argument. Here are the five elements required. Frame of Reference. This is the context within which you place the two things you plan to compare and contrast; it is the umbrella under which you have grouped them.
The frame of reference may consist of an idea, theme, question, problem, or theory; a group of similar things from which you extract two for special attention; biographical or historical information. The best frames of reference are constructed from specific sources rather than your own thoughts or observations. Thus, in a paper comparing how two writers redefine social norms of masculinity, you would be better off quoting a sociologist on the topic of masculinity than spinning out potentially banal-sounding theories of your own. Most assignments tell you exactly what the frame of reference should be, and most courses supply sources for constructing it.
If you encounter an assignment that fails to provide a frame of reference, you must come up with one on your own. A paper without such a context would have no angle on the material, no focus or frame for the writer to propose a meaningful argument. Grounds for Comparison. Let's say you're writing a paper on global food distribution, and you've chosen to compare apples and oranges. Why these particular fruits? Why not pears and bananas? The rationale behind your choice, the grounds for comparison , lets your reader know why your choice is deliberate and meaningful, not random. For instance, in a paper asking how the "discourse of domesticity" has been used in the abortion debate, the grounds for comparison are obvious; the issue has two conflicting sides, pro-choice and pro-life.
In a paper comparing the effects of acid rain on two forest sites, your choice of sites is less obvious. A paper focusing on similarly aged forest stands in Maine and the Catskills will be set up differently from one comparing a new forest stand in the White Mountains with an old forest in the same region. You need to indicate the reasoning behind your choice. The grounds for comparison anticipates the comparative nature of your thesis. As in any argumentative paper, your thesis statement will convey the gist of your argument, which necessarily follows from your frame of reference.
But in a compare-and-contrast, the thesis depends on how the two things you've chosen to compare actually relate to one another. Do they extend, corroborate, complicate, contradict, correct, or debate one another? In the most common compare-and-contrast paper—one focusing on differences—you can indicate the precise relationship between A and B by using the word "whereas" in your thesis:. Whereas Camus perceives ideology as secondary to the need to address a specific historical moment of colonialism, Fanon perceives a revolutionary ideology as the impetus to reshape Algeria's history in a direction toward independence. Whether your paper focuses primarily on difference or similarity, you need to make the relationship between A and B clear in your thesis.
This relationship is at the heart of any compare-and-contrast paper. Organizational Scheme. Your introduction will include your frame of reference, grounds for comparison, and thesis. There are two basic ways to organize the body of your paper. If you think that B extends A, you'll probably use a text-by-text scheme; if you see A and B engaged in debate, a point-by-point scheme will draw attention to the conflict. Be aware, however, that the point-by- point scheme can come off as a ping-pong game. You can avoid this effect by grouping more than one point together, thereby cutting down on the number of times you alternate from A to B.
But no matter which organizational scheme you choose, you need not give equal time to similarities and differences. In fact, your paper will be more interesting if you get to the heart of your argument as quickly as possible. Thus, a paper on two evolutionary theorists' different interpretations of specific archaeological findings might have as few as two or three sentences in the introduction on similarities and at most a paragraph or two to set up the contrast between the theorists' positions. The rest of the paper, whether organized text- by-text or point-by-point, will treat the two theorists' differences. You can organize a classic compare-and-contrast paper either text-by-text or point-by-point.
But in a "lens" comparison, in which you spend significantly less time on A the lens than on B the focal text , you almost always organize text-by-text. That's because A and B are not strictly comparable: A is merely a tool for helping you discover whether or not B's nature is actually what expectations have led you to believe it is. Linking of A and B. All argumentative papers require you to link each point in the argument back to the thesis. Without such links, your reader will be unable to see how new sections logically and systematically advance your argument. In a compare-and contrast, you also need to make links between A and B in the body of your essay if you want your paper to hold together.
As a girl raised in the faded glory of the Old South, amid mystical tales of magnolias and moonlight, the mother remains part of a dying generation. Surrounded by hard times, racial conflict, and limited opportunities, Julian, on the other hand , feels repelled by the provincial nature of home, and represents a new Southerner, one who sees his native land through a condescending Northerner's eyes. Copyright , Kerry Walk, for the Writing Center at Harvard University. Skip to main content. Main Menu Utility Menu Search.
Harvard College Writing Program HARVARD. FAQ Schedule an appointment Writing Resources Writing Resources Writing Advice: The Barker Underground Blog Meet the tutors! Contact Us Drop-in Hours. In the most common compare-and-contrast paper—one focusing on differences—you can indicate the precise relationship between A and B by using the word "whereas" in your thesis: Whereas Camus perceives ideology as secondary to the need to address a specific historical moment of colonialism, Fanon perceives a revolutionary ideology as the impetus to reshape Algeria's history in a direction toward independence.
In text-by-text , you discuss all of A, then all of B. In point-by-point , you alternate points about A with comparable points about B. Writing Resources Strategies for Essay Writing How to Read an Assignment How to Do a Close Reading Developing A Thesis Outlining Summary Topic Sentences and Signposting Transitioning: Beware of Velcro How to Write a Comparative Analysis Ending the Essay: Conclusions Brief Guides to Writing in the Disciplines. Quick Links Schedule an Appointment Drop-in Hours English Grammar and Language Tutor Harvard Guide to Using Sources Writing Advice: The Harvard Writing Tutor Blog Departmental Writing Fellows Videos from the Three Minute Thesis Competition Follow HCWritingCenter. Copyright © The President and Fellows of Harvard College Accessibility Digital Accessibility Report Copyright Infringement.
101 Compare and Contrast Essay Topics,Table of contents
WebJun 9, · Write an essay that compares and contrasts them on three points (a specific dish would be one point, of course; atmosphere might be another). write an essay that WebThere is no way that it is going to spoil your academic reputation, and students can get a free price quotation right blogger.com conclusion, the truth is that it is very easy to get cheap Missing: compare and contrast WebDescription. This is a resource I created to support my 3rd graders in writing a compare and contrast essay. It starts with guided notes about each part of the essay and WebIn the most common compare-and-contrast paper—one focusing on differences—you can indicate the precise relationship between A and B by using the word "whereas" in your Web Compare and Contrast Essay Topics About Scientific Research. Hubble Telescope vs. James Webb Telescope. Stem Cell Therapy vs. Stem Cell Transplant. Cloning vs. ... read more
Whether it be brainstorming, outlining, drafting, writing, editing, etc, examining your writing process together will allow us to customize every session for your needs specifically. Biotechnology vs. To finish the sign-up process, select your teacher and schedule, and then pick your preferred lesson package. Which is more famous? Maxillofacial doctor Difference between quinolones and cephalosporins Quinolones vs Fluoroquinolones.
Foreign Minister. Comparing and contrasting is also a useful approach in all kinds of academic writing : You might compare different studies in a literature reviewweigh up different arguments in an argumentative essayor consider different theoretical approaches in a theoretical framework. Carrie P, write compare and contrast essay. One write compare and contrast essay way to get students started brainstorming their compare and contrast essays is to create a Venn diagramwhere the overlapping sections of the circle contain similarities and the non-overlapping areas contain the differing traits. Private lessons with top Writing instructors. Genetic Engineering Ionizing Radiation vs. In a compare-and contrast, you also need to make links between A and B in the body of your essay if you want your paper to hold together.
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