How to Write a Compare and Contrast Essay

1. Begin by Brainstorming With a Venn Diagram.
2. Develop a Thesis Statement.
3. Create an Outline.
4. Write the Introduction.
5. Write the First Body Paragraph.
6. Repeat the Process for the Next Paragraphs.
7. Write the Conclusion.
8. Proofread.

Give concrete examples from the items you are comparing or contrasting. Don’t just offer a summary. Use either a whole to whole approach or a point to point approach. Depending on what you are comparing or contrasting, after you’ve made your chart or Venn diagram decide which approach will fully answer the question.

A compare and contrast essay examines two or more topics (objects, people, or ideas, for example), comparing their similarities and contrasting their differences. You may choose to focus exclusively on comparing, exclusively on contrasting, or on both-or your instructor may direct you to do one or both.

Comparison in writing discusses elements that are similar, while contrast in writing discusses elements that are different. A compare-and-contrast essay, then, analyzes two subjects by comparing them, contrasting them, or both. Similarly, to focus on comparison, choose two subjects that seem at first to be unrelated.

A compare-and-contrast essay analyzes two subjects by either comparing them, contrasting them, or both. The purpose of writing a comparison or contrast essay is not to state the obvious but rather to illuminate subtle differences or unexpected similarities between two subjects.

This is where comparing and contrasting comes in. It’s a skill we use daily and it’s an important one. Most kids can easily compare and contrast the obvious (i.e. the color of a coat), but kids have a harder time noticing more subtle differences, and an even harder time verbalizing similarities and differences.

The definition of contrast is the difference between two objects, people or places. An example of contrast is thunder storms on one end of an island and clear, blue skies on the other end.

Compare & Contrast acts as a practical and easy-to-use introduction to higher-order thinking. Compare & Contrast improves comprehension by highlighting important details, making abstract ideas more concrete, and reducing the confusion between related concepts (think meiosis versus mitosis).

There are four strategies in the Identifying Similarities and Differences category: comparing, classifying, creating metaphors, and creating analogies. Teachers are most comfortable engaging their students in activities that require comparing and classifying.

A similarity is a sameness or alikeness. When you are comparing two things — physical objects, ideas, or experiences — you often look at their similarities and their differences. Difference is the opposite of similarity. Both squares and rectangles have four sides, that is a similarity between them.

Individuals are similar in terms of Image, being Aesthetic, being Moral, and Relational. On the other hand, individual differences include psychological characteristics, intelligence, personality traits and values.

Finding differences and/or similarities helps students organize both new and known information. Students will be able to: Note differences and similarities between or among objects, ideas, entities, concepts, events, or other subjects.

The description of similarities and differences found between the two things is also called a comparison.

Comparing is a way (a cognitive process) to identify similarities and differences between or among things.

To contrast something is to look for differences among two or more elements, but compare is to do the opposite, to look for similarities.