Comparative Essay
A comparative essay is an essay in which you either compare
something or contrast something. When you compare, you
emphasize the similarities, and when you contrast, you
emphasize the differences. We use compare and contrast
thinking when deciding which movie to go to, which product to
buy, or whether to travel by car, bus or airplane to a vacation
spot.
The Comparative Essay Process
1. Brainstorming/Idea Generation
1. Construct Outline – There are two different ways to outline a
comparative essay.
1. Block Arrangement
2. Point-By-Point Arrangement
2. Draft 1 and 2 – Copy from Outline, sandwich and ELABORATE
your analysis (bottom slice)
3. Create a great lead – small moment, question, statistic, quote,
unusual fact
4. Elaborate Lead using S.A.I.D.D. strategies
5. Edit for grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure,
agreement, etc.
6. Final Draft
The Important Parts of an Essay
• An essay can be thought of in 3 parts:
• Say what you’re going to say
• Say it
• Say what you said
• Lead
• Thesis Statement
• Claim
• Avenues
• In a comparative essay the body paragraphs
can be arranged in two different ways – Block
arrangement or Point-by-Point.
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Body Paragraphs
Sandwiching of examples
Support of the thesis claim
Elaboration of analysis
• Conclusion
• Restates Thesis and avenues in different words
• Transitions
The Block Arrangement
Suppose you are interested in showing the differences between
vacationing in the mountains and vacationing at the beach. One
way to arrange your material is to use the block arrangement which
is to write about vacationing in the mountains in one paragraph and
vacationing at the beach in the next – the mountains is one avenue
and the beach is the second. If you mention a particular point in the
mountains paragraph, you must mention the same point in the
beach paragraph, and in the same order. Study the following
outline, which shows this kind of organization. The introductory
paragraph is followed by the mountains paragraph, the beach
paragraph, then the conclusion; the fully developed essay is just
four paragraphs.
Your Outline would look like this:
Vacationing in the Mountains vs. at the Beach
I. Lead, transition, thesis plus two avenues (mountains,
beach)
II. Mountains
A. Climate – Sandwiched example
B. Types of Activities – Sandwiched example
III. Beach
A. Climate – Sandwiched example
B. Types of Activities – Sandwiched example
IV. Conclusion – restate thesis and avenues – end with a final
thought, decision, or observation
The Point-by-Point Arrangement
Continuing with the example of vacationing in the mountains vs.
vacationing at the beach, we will look at a second way to outline and
write your comparative essay. To do this you start with the same
type of introductory paragraph as the block arrangement, but
instead of dividing the two topics by paragraph, you discuss a
particular point about vacationing in the mountains and then
immediately to discuss the same point about vacationing at the
beach. This is called point-by-point or alternating arrangement. An
outline of this organization follows.
Your Outline would look like this:
Vacationing in the Mountains vs. at the Beach
I. Lead, transition, thesis plus two avenues (mountains,
beach)
II. First difference between mountains and beaches is
climate
A. Mountains – climate – sandwiched example
B. Beach – climate – sandwiched example
III. Second difference between mountains and beaches are
types of activities
A. Mountains – activities – sandwiched example
B. Beach – activities – sandwiched example
IV. Conclusion – restate thesis and avenues – end with a final
thought, decision, or observation
Supporting Your Point of View Through Comparison
You can use your comparison essay to support your point of
view.
Example from: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
By Robert Persig
You see things vacationing on a motorcycle in a way that
is completely different from any other. In a car you're always
in a compartment, and because you're used to it, you don't
realize that through that car window everything you see is
just more TV. You're a passive observer, and it is all moving
by you boringly in a frame.
Negative
On a cycle the frame is gone. You're completely in
contact with it all. You're in the scene, not just watching it
anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming. That
concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real
thing, the same stuff you walk on. It's right there, so blurred
you can't focus on it, yet you can put your foot down and
touch it anytime, and the whole thing, the whole experience,
is never removed from immediate consciousness.
Positive
A Good Analysis
The analysis piece in an essay is the most important part because
it ties your examples to the thesis. This part of the essay is the
“bottom bread” of the sandwich – the part where you explain
your example. A good analysis has these qualities:
•Ties the example to the thesis by explaining why
•Is specific rather than general
•Shows insight
Examples:
Not So Good: The mountains have many activities. There is skiing
and snowboarding in the winter, and there is hiking and lake
swimming in the summer.
Better: The mountains offer a variety of vacation activities. In the
winter, many people take skiing vacations with family or friends.
In the summer, mountain trails make great hiking experiences in
addition to lake swimming.
Even Better: The mountains offer a wonderful variety of vacation
activities. In the winter, many people take skiing with family or
friends. Skiing provides great exercise and breath taking views
from mountain summits. In the summer, mountain trails make
great hiking experiences where people can enjoy time with loved
ones and get a workout, then take a refreshing plunge in a clear
mountain lake.
Essay Lead
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Hooks the reader
Relates to the topic, but often more indirectly
Should not be too short that it feels abrupt
Should not be too long that it seems to take forever to get
to the point
A Good Lead in a Literary Essay Should:
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Give the name and author of the book
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Give the basics of the story – setting, time place, etc.
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Broadly outline the main problem of the story
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Mention the main character and possibly one or two others
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Give the reader enough information to understand the analysis
that will follow, but don’t give too much away.
A Good Lead in an Expository Essay Should:
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Give background information about the broad topic
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Explain anything that the reader may need to know in order to
understand the thesis and argument
The First Paragraph and Creating a Lead
The first paragraph is the most important in your essay. It not only draws your reader
in and tells him/her what your paper is about, it gives a preview about how you
intend to prove what you say through your subtopics.
Remember: The Thesis Statement and two Avenues are all incorporated into one
sentence, and it is the last sentence of your first paragraph.
You can begin your paper several different ways. Each type of lead, except for the
anecdote, requires details to support it. The lead comes first, then the details the
transition, and finally the thesis and two Avenues, which are the last sentence of your
first paragraph!
Open with an unusual detail. Example:
Did you know that the most famous thing about San Francisco is not the hills or
the cable cars, it’s the denim. (Details) San Francisco is actually the birthplace of
bluejeans. Back in 1853, Levi Strauss founded the company that made the first denim
pants. This essential piece of modern fashion was actually designed originally for
gold miners who had come to California during the gold rush. They needed tough
and comfortable clothing for the rugged work they did. (Transition) Levi Strauss put
San Francisco on the map when he founded his company and the city has added
many dazzling new aspects since then. (Thesis) It is therefore clear that San Francisco
should be considered the best vacation city in the United States because of its
(Avenue 1) rich history and its (Avenue 2) tourist attractions.
Open with a statistic or fact. Example:
According to Annie Leonard, creator of The Story of Stuff, most people throw away 99
percent of what they buy. (Details) Think about it. Most people don’t have the same
furniture, clothes or computers they did 10 years ago. They regularly replace kitchen
items, bathroom products and light bulbs, most of which end up in landfills. (Thesis)
If our planet is going to survive we must find a way to change the way we consume by
(Avenue 1) changing the way we package and sell products, and (Avenue 2) creating
biodegradable products.
Open with a quotation. Example:
Albert Einstein once said, “"Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived
as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty.” (Details) Many who hear this quote would
immediately think of a school setting, but what about other kinds of teaching and
learning? Shouldn’t the unfailing support and guidance of a dance instructor or a
soccer coach be included in any consideration of teaching and learning? It seems
clear that although these pursuits are not necessarily academic, they have much to
offer the learner in terms of social skills, self-confidence and goal-setting. (Thesis)
Instead of spending more time in school, students should have free time after school
to pursue the interests that make them passionate. (Avenue 1) This will give them a
truly well-rounded education and will (Avenue 2) keep local economies functioning.
Use an anecdote or small moment story to set the scene. Example:
All right, you’re a leopard and you’ve been very clever. You’ve cornered an
eighty-pound baboon with three-inch fangs and frightened him into an adrenalinestoked frenzy of hatred. Great! Now what, hotshot? Remember – you’re supposed
to be happy about this; you’ve worked hard to put yourself in this position.
What you do if you’re a leopard is simple. You fake a step forward, inducing the
baboon to make a do-or-die lunge at your eyes with those fangs. Then you pull back.
The fangs click together a half-inch in front of your face, and before the stumbling
primate can open his mouth again, you swing your right leg sharply from the shoulder
and clout him on the side of the chest. He flies ten feet and lands in a tangle of
broken ribs and crushed organs, and you heave a sigh: whew! Not that you ever
doubted your superior strength, or your speed or your craftiness. But all the same,
those fangs, if they did get in your eyes…
(Transition) The leopard is one of nature’s greatest predators, capable of taking
on animals even larger than itself and equally as dangerous. But there is one predator
that is greater than the leopard- one that is systematically destroying these great and
majestic felines until there are almost none left. Who is this great beast? Humans.
(Thesis) It is imperative that we stop destroying the species that share this planet by
(Avenne 1) stopping habitat destruction, (Avenue 2 ) and expanding wildlife
preserves.
Transitions
• 3 Parts to a transition
• Refer back to what you just talked about
• Refer forward to what you’re going to talk
about
• Linking idea
• Transitions can be used between sentences as the
first step in revision
• Go through each paragraph two sentences at
a time and build a transition sentence
between each pair.
• Re-read your paragraphs aloud.
• Add anything that feels unsaid
• Delete where you feel like you’ve overdone it
Revision Strategies
• Build Transitions
• Use Elaboration Strategies
• Use the Sandwich Strategy
• Use Strong Verbs
• Check Sentence Structures
• Fully Develop Analysis Sections
Elaboration Strategies
• Explain Why
• Explain Why Not
• Explain How
• Explain the Details
• Define
• Give an example
Using Powerful Verbs and Adjectives
(And Dropping Unnecessary Adverbs!)
Some verbs are better than others. When you revise:
•Go through your draft and underline all the verbs.
•Give them the “vanilla” test.
•If they are too vanilla, or if you are using adverbs to spice
them up, use a thesaurus to find a more “spicy” verb.
•Avoid using the same “spicy” verb twice.
Examples:
Vanilla:
Loon Mountain in New Hampshire has ski runs for every
level of skier.
Less Vanilla:
New Hampshire’s Loon Mountain offers excellent ski runs
for every level of experience.
Very Spicy:
New Hampshire’s Loon Mountain offers a wide variety of
ski runs for every level of experience, from steep and
challenging mogul runs for experts to gentle slopes for
beginners.
Notice that as you spice up your verbs, your sentences
can also become more complex and interesting!
Fine-Tuning Sentences for Better Flow
Sentence structure affects the way the language of your
piece flows.
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Read through the piece ALOUD to yourself
Read it through ALOUD to someone else
Have someone else read it ALOUD to you
Listen for:
• Short, choppy sentences
• Repetitious words or ideas
• Combine short sentences
• Delete or reword repetitious ideas or words
Examples:
Not So Good: The mountains are a great place to
vacation. They are a great place to vacation because they
have skiing and snowboarding.
Better: The mountains are a great place to vacation
because they offer so many winter activities including
skiing and snowboarding.
Editing Basics
Verbs:
Agreement – Subjects and verbs.
Tense – Check each verb – are they all in the same tense?
Variety – Are you using the same verbs over and over
again?
Person – Does it switch anywhere from you to I, from I to they,
from you to they or he/she? Have you taken “I” out of it, as in
“I think”…
Word Variety – Are you using the same word over and over
again?
Sentence Structure – Are your sentences varied and not all the
same?
Spelling – Check for words the spell checker won’t pick up and
incorrect duplicates ie. Aloud/Allowed
Capitalization – Beginning of sentences, and proper nouns
Sentences – Check for run-ons and fragments.
Strategy:
•Read your piece backwards. This will help you find spelling
and technical errors.
•Read it aloud to a partner – have the partner read it aloud to
you.