If you’re a student who studies English, the chances are that you’re not excited about writing compare and contrast essays. However, there’s no need to worry because professionals from Writers-House are here to help you with our step-by-step guide.
1. Carefully read sources you’ve been asked to write about
It’s impossible to write a decent compare and contrast essay without actually reading the necessary sources. If you want to write a good essay, you have to read them carefully. Take notes and make sure you know all the important details that may be useful for your essay. If you prepare for writing properly, this task will be much easier for you.
2. Make a list of the differences and things your texts have in common
Once you’ve read your sources, it’s time to determine how these texts differ and what they have in common. This is when you can use your notes, focusing on the most important details. You may want to write the actual list of differences and similarities, or just to jot down the key ideas of your essay. Write whatever comes to your mind, even if you think that some things are not really important.
3. Select the most important points and develop your central argument
Now that you have a list of similarities and differences, you can choose the most important things in order to develop the main idea of your piece of writing. How should you determine what details are really important and what are unnecessary? For example, think of the elements that characterize your texts best. Think of the main messages, topics, and characters — most likely, you will quickly find out things that can serve as the basis of your essay. If you have two sources devoted to the same topic, you may want to consider the differences in the approach to this topic.
4. Prepare an outline
Your outline should include only the main points of your essay and illustrate its overall structure. When writing compare and contrast essays, a six-paragraph structure may be the best solution. Start with an introduction that contains the purpose of your essay and underlies your central argument. Simply put, you should explain why you think that comparing these two sources is important. After the introduction, write the body of the essay. If you’ve chosen the six-paragraph structure, the body of your essay should be four paragraphs long. For example, you can write two paragraphs about the first source, following them by two paragraphs about the second source. You can also write two paragraphs about the differences between these sources, and then focus on what they have in common, or vice versa. The main thing is to create a structure that will allow you to articulate your thoughts in a clear and easy-to-read manner. Your essay should end with the conclusion that summarizes everything said before and re-phrases your central argument. You may also explain what is important about your observations.
5. Add more details
When you have a nice outline, all you have to do is just elaborate on your thoughts and provide evidence that will support your points. If you don’t support your thoughts with evidence, it will be hard for readers to understand and accept your argument. We suggest that you provide one solid piece of evidence from each text to illustrate every point. However, if you got a more complex assignment, you may also need to refer to other authors, in order to provide additional criticism.
6. Edit
When your first draft is ready, it doesn’t mean that you can relax and forget about it. You should also check your text for inconsistencies, grammar and spelling errors, and readability. Make sure your thoughts follow each other in a logical order, and all your arguments are easy to understand. When editing your essays, you might also benefit from reading them to somebody else. You can ask your friends or parents to check your essay, or you can order professional editing and proofreading online.
As you can see, essay writing becomes easier when you prepare for it and make the whole writing process more structured.
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