THE COMPARATIVE ESSAY
Stop! Don't do anything else until you've downloaded this venn diagram and filled it out!
Did you fill it out? Okay. Next step: structuring and organizing your ideas:
Consider the following two organizational options to use when writing a comparative essay:
Block Method (in which the writer discusses various features of one item and then, in a new paragraph, the same various features of the other item. For example...
Alternating Method (in which the writer focuses on one feature—for example, characterization—of each item before going on to focus on another feature—for example, thematic development). For example...
Block Method
The writer discusses various features of one item and then, in a new paragraph, the same various features of the other item.
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Alternating Method
The writer focuses on one feature—for example, characterization—of each item before going on to focus on another feature—for example, thematic development
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Here's a helpful hint: compare/contrast transition language will give your reader necessary sign posts and guidance throughout your analysis.
Remember that transitions help a reader in a piece of comparison-contrast writing:
To Compare:
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To Contrast:
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