A comparative analysis essay is an essay that compares two different subjects such as people, texts, events, and theories. The focus of a comparative analysis essay is mainly on identifying the main similarities or differences between the subjects. With all these skills you are good to go when it comes to writing a comparative essay The comparative essay is an important form of document because when you have to make a decision or choose a side in an argument, you will want to know as much as possible about the two options under consideration—and a good comparative essay on the subject can bring out both the similarities and the differences between the options, thereby clarifying the stakes at blogger.comted Reading Time: 10 mins 10/07/ · A Comparative Essay is an essay that contains paragraphs explaining how the two subjects of discussion are either similar or different. It mainly focuses on various ‘compare and contrast’ aspects of two subjects. Compare will describe the similarities between the subjects while contrast will highlight the blogger.comted Reading Time: 8 mins
Comparative Essay | How to Write an Effective Comparative Essay?
Throughout your academic career, comparative essay, you'll be asked to write papers in which you compare and contrast two things: two texts, two theories, two historical figures, two scientific processes, and so on. In the "lens" or "keyhole" comparison, in which you weight A less heavily than B, you use A as a lens through which to view B, comparative essay. Just as looking through a pair of glasses changes the way you see an object, using A as a framework for comparative essay B changes the way you see B. Lens comparisons are useful for illuminating, critiquing, or challenging the stability of a thing that, before the analysis, seemed perfectly understood. Often, lens comparisons take time into account: earlier texts, events, or historical figures may illuminate later ones, and vice versa.
Faced with a daunting list of comparative essay unrelated similarities and differences, comparative essay, you may feel confused about how to construct a paper that isn't just a mechanical exercise in which you first state all the features that A and B have in common, and then state all the ways in which A and B are different. Predictably, the thesis of such a paper comparative essay usually an assertion that A and B are very similar yet not so similar after all. To write a good compare-and-contrast paper, you must take your raw data—the similarities and differences you've observed—and make them cohere into a meaningful argument.
Here are the five elements required. Frame of Reference. This is the context within which you place the two things you plan to compare and contrast; it is the umbrella under which you have grouped them. The frame of reference may consist of an idea, theme, comparative essay, question, problem, or theory; a group of similar things comparative essay which you extract two for comparative essay attention; biographical or historical information. The best frames of reference are constructed from specific sources rather comparative essay your own thoughts or observations, comparative essay.
Thus, in a paper comparative essay how two writers redefine social norms of masculinity, you would be better off quoting a sociologist on the topic of masculinity than spinning out potentially banal-sounding theories of your own. Most assignments tell you exactly what the frame of reference should be, and most courses supply sources for constructing it. If you encounter an assignment that fails to provide a frame of reference, you must come up with one on your own. A paper without such a context would have no angle on the material, no focus or frame for the comparative essay to propose a meaningful argument, comparative essay. Grounds for Comparison. Let's say you're writing a paper on global food distribution, and you've chosen to compare apples and oranges.
Why these particular fruits? Why not pears and bananas? The rationale behind your choice, the grounds for comparisoncomparative essay, lets your reader know comparative essay your choice is deliberate and meaningful, not random. For instance, in a paper asking comparative essay the "discourse of domesticity" has been used in the abortion debate, the grounds for comparison are obvious; the issue has two conflicting sides, pro-choice and pro-life. In a paper comparing the effects of acid rain on two forest sites, your choice of sites is less obvious. A comparative essay focusing on similarly aged forest stands in Maine and the Catskills will be set up differently from one comparing a new forest stand in the White Mountains with an old forest in the same region, comparative essay.
You need to indicate the reasoning behind your choice. The grounds for comparison anticipates the comparative nature of your thesis. As in any argumentative paper, your thesis statement will convey the gist of your argument, which necessarily follows from your frame of reference. But in a compare-and-contrast, the thesis depends on how the two things you've chosen to compare actually relate to one another. Do they extend, comparative essay, complicate, contradict, correct, or debate one another? In the most common compare-and-contrast paper—one focusing on differences—you can indicate the precise relationship between Comparative essay and B by using the word "whereas" in your thesis:. Whereas Camus perceives ideology as secondary to the need to comparative essay a specific historical moment of colonialism, Fanon perceives a revolutionary ideology as the impetus to reshape Algeria's history in a direction toward independence.
Whether your paper focuses primarily on difference or similarity, you need to make the relationship between A and B clear in your thesis. This relationship is at the heart of any compare-and-contrast paper. Organizational Scheme. Comparative essay introduction will include your frame of reference, grounds for comparative essay, and thesis. There are two basic comparative essay to organize the body of your paper, comparative essay. If you think that B extends A, you'll probably use a text-by-text scheme; if you see A and B engaged in debate, a point-by-point scheme will draw attention to the conflict.
Be aware, however, that comparative essay point-by- point scheme can come off as a ping-pong game. You can avoid this effect by grouping more than one point together, thereby cutting down on the number of times you alternate from A to B, comparative essay. But no matter which organizational scheme you choose, you need not give equal time to similarities and differences. In fact, your paper will be more interesting if you get to the heart of your argument as quickly as possible. Thus, a paper on two evolutionary theorists' different interpretations of specific archaeological findings might have as few as two or three sentences in the introduction on similarities and at most a paragraph or two to set up the contrast between the theorists' positions.
The rest of the paper, whether organized text- by-text or point-by-point, will treat the two theorists' differences. You can organize a classic compare-and-contrast paper either text-by-text or point-by-point. But in a "lens" comparison, comparative essay, in which you spend significantly less time on A the lens than on B the focal textyou almost always organize text-by-text. That's because A and B are not strictly comparable: A is merely a tool for helping you discover whether or not B's nature is actually what expectations have led you to believe it is, comparative essay. Linking of A and B. All argumentative papers require you to link each point in the argument back to the thesis.
Without such links, your reader will be unable to see how new sections logically comparative essay systematically advance your argument. In a compare-and contrast, comparative essay, you also need to make links between A and B in the body of your essay if you want your paper to hold together. As a girl raised in the faded glory comparative essay the Old South, amid mystical tales of magnolias and moonlight, the mother remains part of a dying generation. Surrounded by comparative essay times, racial conflict, comparative essay, and limited opportunities, Julian, on the other handcomparative essay, feels repelled by the provincial nature of home, and represents a new Southerner, one who sees his native land through a condescending Northerner's eyes.
CopyrightKerry Walk, for the Writing Center at Harvard University. Skip to main content. Main Menu Utility Menu Search, comparative essay. Harvard College Writing Program HARVARD. FAQ Schedule an appointment Writing Resources English Grammar and Language Tutor Departmental Writing Fellows Writing Resources Writing Advice: The Barker Underground Blog Meet the tutors! Contact Us. In the most common compare-and-contrast paper—one focusing on differences—you can indicate the precise relationship between A and B by using the word "whereas" in your thesis: Whereas Camus perceives ideology as secondary to the need to address a specific historical moment of colonialism, Fanon perceives a revolutionary ideology as the impetus to reshape Algeria's history in a direction toward independence.
In text-by-textcomparative essay, you discuss all of A, then all of B. In point-by-pointyou alternate points about A with comparable points about B. Writing Resources Strategies for Essay Writing How to Read an Assignment How to Do a Close Reading Developing A Thesis Outlining Summary Topic Sentences and Signposting Transitioning: Beware of Velcro How to Write a Comparative Analysis Ending comparative essay Essay: Conclusions Brief Guides to Writing in the Disciplines. Quick Links Schedule an Appointment Drop-in Hours English Grammar and Language Tutor Departmental Writing Fellows Harvard Guide to Using Sources Follow HCWritingCenter.
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Writing a Comparative Essay What is it
, time: 8:04Comparative Essay – Structure, Topics, & Exampless
The comparative essay is an important form of document because when you have to make a decision or choose a side in an argument, you will want to know as much as possible about the two options under consideration—and a good comparative essay on the subject can bring out both the similarities and the differences between the options, thereby clarifying the stakes at blogger.comted Reading Time: 10 mins In a compare-and contrast, you also need to make links between A and B in the body of your essay if you want your paper to hold together. To make these links, use transitional expressions of comparison and contrast (similarly, moreover, likewise, on the contrary, conversely, on the other hand) and contrastive vocabulary (in the example below, Southerner/Northerner) This idea is what the essay is about, and if your conclusion is good it will be made of this blogger.com need to make sure that your arguments cover all of your points in your essay. You will often find that in the paper that you are writing that you do not need to provide evidence to support your argument, this is when you need to make sure that you have provided evidence to support all
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