By: Arthur Hall
Submitted: 2010-10-16 23:28:21 | Word Count: 562
A Compare and Contrast essay is a useful tool to have in your toolbox of organizing strategies. Helpful anytime you want to look at two or more subjects side by side and draw conclusions, the compare contrast essay is turned to often in college papers.
Often used in college writing classes, this is the foundation from which most argument and persuasive essays are written. In order to keep the points being addressed clear and orderly it is important to choose your best organizing strategy and stick with it. Here are the two main strategies:
Subject by Subject Organization; Best for Shorter Essays
With subject by subject strategy each subject is taken up and examined individually. So if one is comparing football teams, for example, after writing an introductory paragraph which includes an overall point of view of both teams, normally referred to as the thesis, the next paragraph speaks to everything about Iowa football team. Everything about this subject is organized into one or two paragraphs and exhausted before moving on to the next subject. Following this, the other subject is taken up, say the Michigan football team. Now everything about the Michigan team is examined in one or two paragraphs.
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To keep a balance between the two topics, use the same number of paragraphs in each. Also, it works best to keep the points in the same order. Subject by subject is a good organizing structure for the shorter essays where two to three paragraphs per subject is generally adequate.
Looks Like This: Structural Outline of Subject by Subject
Introductory paragraph states the thesis.
topic A: (Iowa team)
pt 1 tackles
pt 2 line plays
pt 3 goals
topic B: (Michigan team)
pt 1 tackles
pt 2 line plays
pt 3 goals
Concluding paragraph and restatement of thesis.
Notice how this keeps the points in the same order. This makes the essay more clear giving the reader a better chance at keeping track of the points being made.
Point by Point Organization; Best for Longer Essays
The other organizing strategy is a point by point comparison. This works well for the longer and more in-depth essays. The benefit of this type of organization is that the reader can keep better track of all the points being raised. Staying with the topic of two football teams, say you want to discuss particular plays of each team. You decide to focus on.tackles, yard lines, players and goal shots. After writing the introductory paragraph and your thesis statement, each subject is presented and taken up point by point. The first paragraph deals with tackles, say, and first it is addressed with Iowa team and then it is addressed with the Michigan team.
The next paragraph deals with yard lines and likewise first the Iowa team and then in regards to the Michigan team. And so on. As the paper progresses, each point is raised, discussed and then the next. The overall scheme looks like this and is best used for longer, more in depth analysis of several points.
Looks Like This: Structural Outline of Point by Point
Introduction of Subjects A and B with thesis statement
pt.1 A Tackles at Iowa
pt. 1 B Tackles at Michigan
pt. 2 A Yard lines at Iowa
pt. 2 B Yard line at Michigan
pt. 3 A Goal shots at Iowa
pt. 3 B Goal shots at Michigan
pt. 4 A Players at Iowa
pt. 4 B Players at Michigan
Concluding paragraph with restatement of thesis
