Writing comparison papers

This paper is present in most academic settings and careers; hence most people will come across it at one point.

How to Write a Compare and Contrast Essay Guide | initiativeblog.com

Based on this comparison, you will give your answer to the initial question. In this case the answer is a prediction, but we ask and answer similar questions about a host of other topics hundreds of times a day--where to get something to eat, which store to buy supplies from, which candidate to vote for, what task to do first.

Sometimes the sequence is evaluate-compare-predict, at other times it is evaluate-compare-decide, or evaluate-compare-recommend, and even evaluate-compare-and then reject both options! The final term in this chain is a claim this team will win, we should eat at the diner, we should buy brand Xwhich in academic papers tends to be called a thesis.

Academic papers often employ the same analytical sequence and evaluative and comparatives kills as we use in every day decision-making, and we write them for the same reason--to help us reach a decision about things we are comparing and then explain that decision to others.

Preparing to Write a Paper using Comparison Prewriting for comparison and contrast papers can be conducted visually, through charts.

Draw vertical lines down the center of a sheet of notebook paper, allowing one column for each thing to be compared and a small margin on the left. If you prefer to work on your computer, make a table using your word processing software or a spread sheet program.

List the main points, topics, or features in the left margin or column and then note how each text responds or represents it in the relevant column. You might find it helpful to indicate all of the similarities using a highlighter, marks next to each similarity, or some other system.

This technique will help you identify and keep track of the important similarities and differences. When a comparison and contrast assignment asks you to compare your personal experience with something else, it is important not to fall into the fallacy of using personal experience to evaluate the accuracy of the other.

For example, you might read an essay arguing that the traditional image of family life in which Dad goes off to work and Mom stays at home to take care of the house and the children no longer describes the lives of the majority of American families.

Let us suppose that you are asked to compare your family and the families of your friends with the new image that the article describes both parents working, or a single parent working and raising the children.

The argument "The traditional family in which I grew up demonstrates how little the author of the article knows about American life" makes no sense because you are comparing a specific case with a generalization based on many cases.

Developing a good thesis for a college-level comparison and contrast paper involves your looking at those similarities and differences and asking yourself the crucial question, "So what?

How does it affect your point of view? The answer to this question can lead to a thesis statement like "A comparison of the Republican and Democratic platforms for the presidential race reveals so many similarities that one must wonder whether Americans actually have options when they go to the polls.

Organizing a Paper using Comparison Once you have figured out a thesis statement, or at least something that you can work with temporarily remember, you can always revise or replace your thesis once your paper is underwayyou can begin drafting.

Two general structural patterns are available for papers that use comparison and contrast. Some papers adopt one or the other, but many actually blend these two patterns together in various ways. Being aware of the two basic patterns will help you make wise rhetorical choices as you draft your paper.

The structures are the point-by-point pattern and the block pattern: When you use this structure, you work back and forth between the sources you consider in your paper discussing one point of similarity or difference at a time.

General Format // Purdue Writing Lab

Each paragraph takes one feature or point of similarity or difference and discusses each source in relation to it. For example, a paper comparing three paintings might contain one paragraph discussing the similarities and differences in the use of light and shade in the three paintings, another discussing how each painting uses color, and so on.

A more complex paper might only focus on the use of color, with several paragraphs each discussing one color in the three paintings.A comparison essay (or a Compare and Contrast essay) is a commonly used type of writing assignment in various classes of high school and college, from art to science.

In a comparison essay you should critically analyze any two subjects, finding and pointing out their similarities and/or differences. In academic writing, comparison and contrast is particularly valuable because it enables you to see familiar things in new ways.

How to Write Compare and Contrast Essays-Understanding the Prompt

"Common sense" says that two things are the same, but a careful comparison and contrast demonstrates their important differences. How to write a conclusion for a compare and contrast essay. The compare and contrast essay conclusion is the last paragraph of the entire essay in which you restate points mentioned in the introduction and body paragraphs, as well as summarize the similarities and differences dealt with in .

Sometimes you may want to use comparison/contrast techniques in your own pre-writing work to get ideas that you can later use for an argument, even if comparison/contrast isn’t an official requirement for the paper you’re writing. Let's say your high school or college teacher haven't assigned the topic for your assignment.

It means you can choose compare and contrast essay topics by conducting in-depth research, asking for advice, or hiring a professional academic writer to help.

The compare and contrast essay, also called the comparison and contrast essay, requires the writer to compare the differences and similarities between two or more items.

The context will vary depending on the nature of the essay.