How to Compare and Contrast Essays

What are essays? The dictionary meaning of the term would be 'A short piece of writing on a single subject.' That’s the simplest way an essay can be described. In other words essays are generally a writer’s way of expressing his point of view on a particular subject matter. However essays today have taken a far more elaborate turn than just writing and expressing about one’s opinion. Essays today especially in the context of UK have many different types. Example: Classification type, Argumentative type, Descriptive type, Compare and Contrast type etc. Often students or essay writers lose the trail of these standard norms to be followed and just want to write without paying much attention to the details to these standards thus losing the very essence of writing. 

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Coming back to compare and contrast essays, as the name suggests they are no longer just the authors or the writer’s point of view. Some of these types of essays need to have different points of view of not only the writers but also the other side in order to be able to compare, argue etc. Hence essays today have a far deeper touch to them than before. So it’s not just about writing on a particular subject but also a detailed study backed up with proper facts and eliminating the myths, explanation of the subject with citing accurate sources for your data /information finally with appropriate conclusion leaving an impression on the person reading your essay.

Today we will discuss about Compare/Contrast type of Essays and How to write one? Here are some dos and don’ts for writing this particular type of essay.

Compare and Contrast type of essays are essays which generally have two topics to be discussed on and their similarities and dissimilarities.

 Some tips for writing Compare and Contrast type of Essays:

1.    Topic of discussion – It is very important to first decide the topic that needs to be written about.  Prepare its main outline, jot down the main points to be discussed, compared and contrasted. Since this type of essay has two topics to be discussed on one should have both the data available in order to be able to compare and debated upon. Hence a proper planning, research and analysis needs to be done before deciding on the topic.

Some examples for choosing the topics for such kind of essays can be: Country living or City living, Allopathy vs. Homeopathy, Reading EBooks to reading real books and many such contrasting topics which we are able to elaborate and discussed with their pros and cons.

2.    Introduction:  Once the topic is decided then essay can be written. An essay always needs to start with a proper introduction irrespective of the type. The writer should always think from the perspective of the person who is going to read them. Reader could be of any kind well-informed or a layman. Hence it is necessary first to introduce about the subject matter. Define and give background information about the topic.

3.    Topic 1: This being a compare and contrast kind of essay, it is essential that first the topic 1 be presented. This is important because the reader needs to understand the subject matter.  You need not introduce the topic 2 at this stage.

4.    Topic 2: After thoroughly talking about topic 1, topic 2 can be introduced. After bot the topics are communicated, then the writer can go about to illustrate how they are similar and dissimilar from one another.

5.    Explain and Evaluate:  This is the time when the writer enters the real body of the essay. Here he needs to put forth his critical analysis about the 2 topics chosen and compare and contrast the two. Talk about their similarities and differences. All your facts, myths, truths, references, and statistics everything needs to be done here. The essayist needs to develop supporting paragraphs explaining and evaluating in the process. The language should be clear and simple for the reader to understand.

6.    Conclusion/Inference:  Lastly this is the simple rule for any kind of writing for essays or otherwise. This is where the essayist proves his absolute knowledge on the topic chosen. His confidence should exude from his writing skills and this is where he can prove it. He should be able to reaffirm by wrapping up in a more official way with his finishing touches.

Some common mistakes and dos and don’ts while writing this type of essay:

1.    Mistakes in content – This is a very common mistake done by many novices. When they begin their writing they often digress from the original content or take an informal approach thus ruining the overall impression of the essay. Correct introduction is important for the reader to be pinned to the reading from start to the end.

2.    Mistakes in vocabulary – Any writing operates with a different set of vocabulary different from our everyday speech or usage. Some common mistakes that the writer does are the use of slang, jargons, colloquialisms and such others. Any writing should have a formal approach and hence the writer should make sure the above mentioned common mistakes are avoided.

3.    Mistakes in Style – Weather it is academic or any other, essay writing also have its subtype’s specific to the kind of essay. Hence even if the essayist has introduced and written in an interesting way, if the correct style is not is not used it will still create a poor impression or will not be according to the accepted standards.

4.    Mistakes in Structure – Essay writing has a long history of structure and formatting. There are some basic academic standards to be followed which have been an age old norm.  It is necessary that while writing these points is not overlooked.

5.    Mistakes in punctuation, spelling and Grammar – Although these points may sound trivial even to mention but nevertheless these are extremely important and creates an overall impression of the writer. Often it is taken for granted that such mistakes cannot happen. However haven’t you come across many writings where such minor errors have occurred and what kind of impression it creates on you? Aren’t you immediately put off by the whole piece of article or even book for that matter?  Even if it could be a printing error it creates an impression of the publisher as well!! Hence punctuation, spellings and grammar should be given as much importance as much as the topic.

Thus even if you are master and have ace knowledge on any given matter, some common and obvious mistakes may drastically impair your essay. At the same time an in depth detailed study of the subject matter along with correctly expressing them as well as organizing them with the proper case study and putting forth proper facts and evidence while writing with the right standards can also dramatically improve your overall grades.

It’s like this; you may be a highly educated person or may not have much academic qualifications to your credit at all. However the way you portray yourself to your audience is all that matters. The way you exude your confidence while expressing your views is what matters at the end of the day and that’s exactly what applies to writing as well. The correct writing skills go a long way in creating a lasting impression on the reader.