Compare and Contrast Essays Made Easy

Your Requirements

Measuring up to the expectations of your teacher is important, so make sure that you are fully aware of them. Did your teacher give you a specific topic to work on? Does he or she require a specific length? When is the deadline?

Your Topic

When choosing your topic, you must consider your own interests as well as your teacher's specific requirement. Focus on an issue that captures your curiosity. If you are running out of ideas, try to get some from the newspaper, magazines or from the Internet.

Your Variables

Identify the variables in the subject of study. Look for similarities and differences.

Your Draft

Make an outline. This will serve as your organizing tool. Your draft will make the whole process a lot more manageable. You can start by sorting the variables that you've identified. They are your points of comparison. Do some research before hand. Being well informed about your topic adds credibility to your work.

The Main Body

With your draft ready, use the outline as your guide. You can start the whole process by writing separate paragraphs, each devoted to a single point of comparison. Don't worry about continuity just yet. You can work on it later.

Each paragraph should have a topic sentence that effectively summarizes the idea of the paragraph. Check if the details do support the main topic. Work on one paragraph at a time. Once you've successfully created strong paragraphs, create coherence between them. Use transitional sentences and connective phrases. Your goal is to make the composition readable.

Your reader should not have a hard time comprehending what it is that you have to say. The layout of the ideas should be in proper order. You can cluster the similarities together while creating a separate group for the similarities.

The Introduction

Your introduction should give the reader a clear picture of what it is that you will be discussing. Construct brief backgrounder information that talks about your topic as a whole and an introduction to the subtopics that will be discussed in the main body.

The Conclusion

The conclusion puts everything in perspective. This should leave the reader with a clear understanding of what the paper was all about, of the message it tried to convey.

This final paragraph also provides closure to the whole composition. Make it short but comprehensive. Restate each of the main points stated in the discussion and their relative implications.

Revisions

Polish your final product. Run a grammar and spell check. You don't want small nuances ruining your paper, practically putting all you hard work to waste. Leave your composition for a day or two and come back with a fresh perspective. You will be surprised to spot errors you did not notice before.

Do not procrastinate on your compare and contrast essay. Get started now.