In this lecture, I’ll be discussing the specifics and requirements of the compares and contrast essay. Using the five sources from your annotated bibliography, I’d like you to compose an essay of approximately 2000 words. Specifically, the essay should examine a debatable topic, highlight the similarities and differences between the sources you’ve chosen. The introduction should familiarize your reader with the issue. As well as provide them with a general idea of the opinions and beliefs currently being expressed about the topic. It should include your main thesis. Typically, the thesis specifies the categories of comparison and contrast you will examine. The thesis may indicate that one subject is stronger than the other. And that both subjects have strengths, or that both subjects possess noteworthy flaws. Questions you might ask yourself include, what strikes you as significant among the similarities and differences? What do these similarities and differences say about the topic? In the body, you’ll use one of two different methods to organize the essay, either subject-by-subject method or point-by-point method. In subject-by-subject method, the body of the essay is organized by discussing each subject in detail separately. Here, you discuss all of your points for one subject and then all of your points for the other subject. For the point-by-point method, you discuss each point for both subjects before going on to the next point. Here, you discuss one point at a time and related to your subjects. The conclusion should briefly summarize the varying opinions concerning the topic. You might consider any unique insights that resulted from comparing and contrasting other researchers’ opinions. Or you might also examine how the comparison enhanced your understanding of the topic. Remember, an effective compare and contrast essay goes beyond a simple listing of similarities and differences. It examines the similarities and differences and makes a meaningful statement about a larger topic.
