Writing Compare and Contrast Essays

Before you begin to draft a compare and contrast essay, you should brainstorm by creating a Venn diagram or a chart to list the ​pros and cons of each subject you are comparing to another. The first paragraph of your compare and contrast essay should contain references to both sides of your comparison. This paragraph should end with a thesis sentence that sums up your overall purpose or results, like this: While city life brings many social opportunities, country life can provide the best of both worlds. Comparison essays can be constructed in two ways. You can focus on one side of your comparison at a time, describing the pros and cons of one topic first and then moving on to the next topic, like the example here: Cities have lots of great restaurants.City life offers culturally diverse populations.Cities contain theaters, sporting events, and other activities.Country life brings fresh produce within easy reach.Country life is quiet living with the opportunity to travel into cities for cultural exposure.Entertainment opportunities exist in the country, as well.Summary paragraph You could instead alternate your focus, covering one after the other in a back-and-forth pattern. Cities have lots of great restaurants.On the other hand, country life brings fresh produce within easy reach.Cities contain theaters, sporting events, and other activities.But entertainment opportunities exist in the country, as well.City life offers culturally diverse populations.However, country life is quiet living with the opportunity to travel into cities for cultural exposure. Make sure that each paragraph contains a smooth transition statement, and end your essay with a sound conclusion. Country Life or City Life? City Country Entertainment theaters, clubs festivals, bonfires, etc. Culture museums historic places Food restaurants produce Some ideas for your compare and contrast essay might make your work easier. Think about the following topics and see if one feels right for you. middle school and high school experiencepizza and spaghettidoing household chores or doing homeworkprivate school and public schoolattending big university and attending small collegecomparing two gamescomparing two types of phoneslaptops to tabletscomparing two teaching stylescomparing English to Spanishowning a dog and owning a cattravel abroad and domestic travelgrowing up rich and growing up poortalking to dad and talking to momhaving a sister and having a brother If the list above doesnt appeal to you, it may spark an original idea that fits your situation. This type of essay can be a lot of fun!