Simple guidelines: Explaining how to write a compare contrast paper

Exploring both the similarities and the differences between two subjects can be a lot of fun. Writing a compare and contrast paper will involve making observations about unexpected ironies that most people wouldn’t notice between two people, places, ideals, or objects. Here’s a quick breakdown on how to write a compare and contrast paper.

Introduce your subjects and state your intentions

The first thing your reader will want to know is who your subjects are and what you intend to analyze about them. Avoid too much detail in your introduction; just give the basics of your subjects and the direction you are taking. Also don’t give too many spoilers; but you should give enough information to keep the reader interested and informed enough to want to read your paper.

Describe your subjects and their similarities

After the introduction your paper can go into more depth about the subjects and what they have in common. You’ll be setting the stage for a comparison between one of the following:

Explore the differences of your subjects and contrast these differences

Now you can focus on the differences of your subjects. Looking at our features above, we can now make the following observations:

Discuss the implications of the similarities versus the differences

Conclude your study by making a connection between those elements that correspond, and those that differ. The point of this type of study is not just to note the similarities and differences, but to dig into the characteristics of both subjects and show your reader how each one is complimented by its varying factors.

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