Writing a Compare/Contrast
Essay About Literature
First… a word about compare/contrast
• Many teachers in the past may have told you that when you are comparing
things, you are only looking at similarities, and when you are contrasting
things, you are only looking at differences.
• So… do you have to deal with BOTH similarities and differences in your
essay?
• ONLY YOU can answer that question. This is YOUR paper. YOU are the one
coming up with the literary analysis. If you ONLY wish to focus on
similarities, go for it. If you want to focus on a striking difference, do that.
If you want to have a couple of paragraphs comparing the works and a
couple of paragraphs contrasting them, that’s fine too.
• The point is, YOU HAVE FREEDOM TO MAKE CHOICES THAT SUIT THE
NEEDS OF YOUR UNIQUE ESSAY. Use it wisely.
The Purpose of a Literary Compare/Contrast
Essay
• When you write a compare/contrast essay about literature, you have
two goals:
• Goal 1: To provide excellent analysis that shows a deep understanding
of each individual work you are writing about. Your analysis should
give your reader insight into the works of literature that they might
not have had just reading it.
• Goal 2: To look at the works of literature side by side and make
observations that could not have been made if you were writing
about only one work. In other words, when you compare/contrast the
works you choose, you must say why these similarities and
differences you are pointing out MATTER.
What Not to Do
• Some textbooks and websites that give advice about compare/contrast
essay suggest that you structure your essay like this:
• Intro
• Paragraph about first work
• Paragraph about second work
• Paragraph comparing first and second works
• Conclusion
• DO NOT DO THIS. Having read many essays for these prompts, I can say
that for 99% of students, this structure does not help you fulfill the purpose
of the essay.
Successful Structures
• A successful compare/contrast essay for these prompts will constantly
be looking at the works of literature together, moving back and forth
between them and using the tools of literary analysis to point out
significant similarities and differences.
• This means that using a point-by-point compare/contrast structure is
more effective for these prompts.
• Point-by-point structure calls for you to choose several points of
comparison between your works of literature, and for each body
paragraph to discuss multiple works and how those works deal with
the topic of that paragraph.
Example Compare/Contrast Point-by-Point
Structure
• Thesis: In introduction. What major point are you going to make about
the relationship between your play and the original story?
• Body paragraph 1: Setting in play vs. story
• Body paragraph 2: Symbolism in play vs. story
• Body paragraph 3: Foreshadowing in play vs. story
• Conclusion
• Please note that there are LOTS of ways to use this structure. I chose
setting, symbolism, and foreshadowing as the topics for my body
paragraphs, but you might focus on three (or more) different characters,
three different themes, etc. Choose the points of comparison that work
for YOU.
An Example of a Claim Comparing Two Poems
• In “Ars Poetica” and “Poetry,” Archibald MacLeish and Nikki Giovanni
both use carefully crafted poetic language, specifically imagery and
metaphors, to suggest that the experience of reading poetry
transcends language.
• Now YOU come up with a claim about ANY TWO poems we read for
today. (Yes, you should write this down.)
• Make sure your claim mentions the titles and authors of both works.
• Make sure your claim asserts something that is not immediately
obvious to a casual reader. (For instance, “Both of these poems are
about poetry,” is not an appropriate claim.)