essay writing tips

Writing A Compare And Contrast Essay: Expert Advice


A compare and contrast essay is designed to show the similarities and the differences between two different topics. You can use the five paragraph essay format for this type of paper. That would include an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The introduction will give some background information on both of the subjects that you are going to write about. It should also include the thesis which will give an idea of the subjects that you will discuss in your paper. The body of your paper will describe the comparisons and contractions between the two. You can do this by a point to point comparison and contrast. That means you would write three paragraph and each would discuss one comparison and one contraction. You can also present these in two paragraphs that will discuss all of the comparisons in one and all of the contractions in another. You have to decide which way will get your point across the best. The conclusion will wrap the paper all up together. Here are some tips to help you complete this paper effectively.

  1. Point by point

    2. If you choose the point by point method, you will want to write the three paragraphs and each one will discuss one aspect of each and compare and contrast it. You want to make sure that you make sure that you discuss the same aspect in each paragraph. For example, you can talk about where the products are manufactured but that they are manufactured differently. You can see that the paragraph is focused on the manufacturing of the products.

  2. Separate compare and contrast

    3. You can put your focus on the comparisons between the two in one paragraph and then focus on the contractions between the two. It is a great way to make sure that you keep the paragraphs separate. This method is a little harder to make it work all together but it is a great way to emphasize the differences and similarities.

  3. Use key words

    4. You will need to use comparing words to show the difference between things. You can use some key words like “is similar to”, “both”, and “also” for similarities. You would use words like “on the other hand”, “however”, and “but” to show the differences.

You should be able to compare and contrast different subjects now and effectively write this type of essay.