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Writing a Compare and Contrast Essay

     When you write a Compare/Contrast essay, you are being asked to identify some major aspect of two unique works through which you can draw parallels and distinctions.  A common compositional task designed to teach you how to apply critical analysis to multiple works and to develop insightful discussions thereupon, an effective compare/contrast essay will demonstrate a mastery of both texts in question.
     A simple way to develop the subject of your compare/contrast essay is to break each work down into its literary elements.  Consider the works’ respective settings, character portrayals, recurring themes, narrative styles and allusive symbols.  By identifying these, evident differences and commonalities will begin to emerge.  
    This brainstorming session should give rise to a meaningful thesis statement concerning the significance of the parallels and differences in the two books.  For example, you might determine during brainstorming that the two works in question depict their main characters very differently but you may also find that these characters are used to establish a common theme.  This could render itself as a thesis statement such as the following:  In the two novels in question, the respective authors depict their main characters as drastically different people, yet these distinct individuals are used very similarly to critique the morality of collective society.  
    Traditionally, this thesis will appear at the end of an opening paragraph, which should concisely introduce the topic of discussion and the works being used to support this discussion.
    Subsequently, you have the opportunity to determine how you would like to lay out your argument.  A divided style of comparing and contrasting works instructs that you discuss the full set of elements concerning one work followed by an equivalent analysis of the other text.  The alternating style, generally considered the more appropriate and sophisticated approach, will constitute an essay in which alternating paragraphs are used to volley the discussion between the two works in question.  This should create a useful structure for ensuring the proper organization of your ideas.  With the above thesis as an example, such a format would allow you to first discuss the characters of one work, then the other, followed by a paragraph concerning the themes of the first work, and thereafter, a paragraph concerning the themes of the second work.  The more seamlessly that you can integrate these talking points into a discussion with one another, the more ably you should be able to reinforce your thesis.
 In the conclusion, you should be able to tie the two works together by concisely restating the thrust of your thesis and the ways in which you have proved this thesis true.