Comparative essay
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008Impress Your Readers With Good Comparative Essay!
An essay is normally a short piece of writing that is written from the author’s own point of view. It is a literary device, which conveys almost everything about anything. There are different types of essays that follow different formats and styles. One of those is the comparative essay which, as the name implies, deals with the comparison of two elements or things. It is mostly required to be done by students. When one compares two elements, the basis of comparison should be the same for both the elements. Though there are a few guidelines, this type of essay does not have a particular set of prescribed formulae.
There are a few tips to be followed while writing a comparative essay. They are as follows.
- • The topic must be catchy enough to pick up the readers’ interest and curiosity.
- • One must mention in the introduction what the basis of comparison exactly is.
- • The reader must understand what points you will be examining and what you will not.
- • Towards the end of the introduction, mention what your preference is or describe the significance of the comparison between the elements.
- • The same points or concepts should not be repeated.
- • The language used must be simple and easy to understand.
- • The concepts presented must be thoroughly researched. The writer must not present vague ideas. He should be quite sure of what he writes.
- • The conclusion of the essay must be definite. Avoid usage of sentences like ‘Thus, these two factors are similar, yet different’. Here, the entire purpose of the comparison is lost.
- • Also, avoid what is called the “Frying Pan Conclusion”, where one just repeats what was discussed in the beginning of the essay. It is true that a conclusion must be a summary of the main points, but then, it must not be a photocopy! The conclusion must reinforce the main ideas in a new and convincing way so that the readers will remember them clearly.
- • Finally, one should ensure that the comparison is balanced. The results should be purely based on the facts. Both the factors must be given equal importance.
Thus, a writer must remember the suggestions above while writing a comparative essay. Writing an essay that is based on the comparison of two things is not actually difficult. The writer’s intelligence is revealed from the way he brings out the exact meaning of the theme of the essay. The English language used must also be given considerable importance. The reader is not just going to be looking at the content. The usage of language is as significant as the subject matter. The essay must also contribute to the improvement in the vocabulary of the reader. This kind of writing is mostly seen in college entrance essays.
In a nutshell, the essay must be pleasant and interesting to the reader. Thus, these are some of the guidelines to be followed while writing a comparative essay. So, get your readers impressed with your good essays!