Essays On Compertive

What is a comparative essay?


  • theories (e.g., capitalism and communism)
  • texts (e.g., Shakespeare’s Hamletand Macbeth)


Make sure you know the basis for comparison



Develop a list of similarities and differences




Develop a thesis based on the relative weight of similarities and differences


  1. Differences outweigh similarities:


  2. Similarities outweigh differences:


Come up with a structure for your essay

    AParagraph 1 in bodynew technology and the French Revolution
    BParagraph 2 in bodynew technology and the Russian Revolution
    AParagraph 3 in bodymilitary strategy and the French Revolution
    BParagraph 4 in bodymilitary strategy and the Russian Revolution
    AParagraph 5 in bodyadministrative system and the French Revolution
    BParagraph 6 in bodyadministrative system and the Russian Revolution






Comparative essays are among the most common types of writing you will do in school. And there’s good reason for that. Not only does it help you develop a valuable skill (critically comparing different aspects of various items), they’re also one of the most helpful types of essays you can write.

Contrary to what the name might suggest, comparative essays don’t just compare — they also contrast. That is, you consider both their similarities and differences. The items you’re comparing can be, practically, anything, from political theories to literary works to reality shows on cable TV. And don’t assume you’re always going to compare and contrast two things — a comparative essay can work just as well for examining similarities and differences among three, four or more items.

Why Comparative Essays?

Compared to other types of essays, comparative essays makes it easier to clearly communicate with readers. Rather than provide examples or illustrations, the comparison with another object alone can be enough (not always, but some of the time) to create a clearer picture in the reader’s mind. As a result, they’re an excellent way to convey information — something that will come handy in your communications whether in school or in whatever industry you end up working at.

Reading the Assignment

Before doing anything else, make sure to read the assignment. The last thing you want to do is put in hours of work only to realize later you’re not following instructions. Read everything carefully and take notes, so you’ll know exactly what’s required.

Basis of Comparison

Most of the time, the essay assignment brief will say exactly what items you need to compare, like “the role of women in three works of Shakespeare” or “the youth-orientedness in Obama’s and Romney’s respective campaigns.” In some cases, however, you’ll simply be told to “compare three works of Shakespeare” or “compare Obama and Romney’s respective campaigns.” When that happens, you have to develop your own basis of comparison, so you’ll need to research a bit for themes, concerns, devices, or issues present in the items concerned. In particular, pay attention to those where there are ample similarities and differences that could be worth writing about (i.e. interesting, significant).

Build a List

Once you have a basis of comparison, you can now come up with a list of similarities and differences that fall under it. Make sure to do this before proceeding, since a well thought-out list can really help simplify all the succeeding steps in writing your essay.

Think critically abouit the similarities and differences between the items in question. Make the list as exhaustive as possible. If the list is too long for the prescribed length of the paper, it’s not a problem — you can always trim the less important attributes later.

Do note that this isn’t supposed to be a proper outline, so don’t worry about that yet. You will still organize and fix up the list later.

Develop a Thesis

Once you have a list of similarities and differences, you can then decide which way you’re going to go with your main thesis. Do the similarities carry more weight? Or do the differences outweigh the former? Your main thesis should reflect that.

Create a Structure

Once you have a thesis in place, it should be clearer which materials should comprise your essay. You can then trim down the list you made into those which will be relevant to the thesis.

When it comes to your outline, there are, generally, three standard structures used in comparative essays.  Just choose one of them to design your outline and, afterwards, finish your writing.

1. Mixed paragraphs. Here, you address both similarities and differences regarding an aspect of the subject in each paragraph. Every time you need to address a different point, you start a new paragraph and so on. Doing this keeps the comparison at the forefront of the reader’s mind, making sure they connect the relationships themselves through the entire reading.
2. Alternating paragraphs. In this method, you split each point into two paragraphs: one for the similarities and the other for the differences. You do this for every aspect of the subject you want to cover. This creates the same results as mixed paragraphs, but can make the entire thing easier to read, since comparisons and contrasts are separated.
3. One subject at a time. Here, you devote the first set of paragraphs to discussing every aspect of the first item you want to compare. Only when that’s done do you talk about the second item. And only when that’s done do you start about the third and so on. This method is recommended for short essays, but will likely make the reader forget about your comparisons in longer works (especially ones where multiple items are compared). It can also be confusing if you don’t handle your references well.

Extra Tips

1. Research thoroughly, but keep the material tight. It’s important for you, as the writer, to have a thorough understanding of the different issues in the assignment. Your reader, however, probably won’t need as much. Compare only as many aspects of the subjects as your readers need to make your essay’s argument convincing.
2. Make the parameters of your argument very specific. Sometimes, it can get very difficult to lead the reader to an obvious conclusion despite the amount of comparisons you make. When you get more specific with your topic, however, the easier that will be to accomplish.
3. Strive for a 50/50 comparison. That is, you present both items fairly. Some readers don’t appreciate unbalanced comparisons and become suspicious of your intentions. This is true, of course, provided that the subjects being compared aren’t overtly imbalanced (e.g. comparing the effects of a presidential election against a high school student body election).
4. Never conclude with “similar yet different.” While it may be true in your analysis of the subjects, it’s a little too cliche of a conclusion for a comparative essay. More likely than not, doing so will simply leave your reader underwhelmed and dissatisfied with your ending.


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