Writing a Perfect Introduction for Your Compare and Contrast Essay

Compare and contrast essays are usually assigned to students as they are believed to promote analytical reasoning, critical thinking, and organized writing. This type of essay should view a subject creatively, with new insight. They analyze two perspectives by comparing or contrasting them, or by doing both. The objective of writing such essays is to illuminate the subtle differences or find similarities between the two topics.

Most students consider writing a compare and contrast essay to be one of the academic challenges that have to be overcome. They require innovativeness as well as resourcefulness to write a compare and contrast essay beautifully. Some students find it very difficult to cope with such high standards and instead prefer to buy custom essay written by professional writers who have extensive experience in academic writing.

The best way to decide the topic for your compare and contrast essay is by brainstorming the topic. For that, you need to pursue the following steps:

Need To Understand The Structure Of A Compare And Contrast Essay

A compare and contrast essay aims to bring one or more topics into focus, which leads to a novel way of looking at things, or indicate that one of the subjects is better than the other. To highlight the comparison and contrast effectively, your essay should be able to make new connections or show the distinctions between the two subjects.

Create The List For Similarities Against Differences

The ideal way to create the list is on a piece of paper or a new word document on the computer. After creating two columns on each subject for the similarities and another two columns on each subject for the differences between them, start writing. This will help in the brainstorming, and fresh ideas will strike easily and effortlessly.

Make A Venn Diagram Of The Topic

Draw two big overlapping circles, and assign them to the two subjects. In the middle section, where the circles overlap, make a list of the characteristics the two topics have in common. In the areas that do not overlap, list down the traits that are unique to each of them and make them different from each other. Be specific while listing words or phrases for each subject.

Prepare The Answers For The 5 W & H Questions

While ideating the writing of your compare and contrast essay, try to prepare the answers for the questions journalists usually ask: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Applying these six questions to your topic can help you to get a better understanding and make sense of the topics or perspectives.

Pay Attention To Any Gaps Or Lacks In Your Knowledge Or Research

While writing your essay, you might have to do extensive research if you choose complex topics, like abortion rights. Or else, you can also write from a purely opinion based perspective, like why you prefer cats than dogs. Once the brainstorming is done, you should be able to identify the aspects of the essay and decide if you need more research on the topic or not.

Writing A Perfect Introduction For Your Compare And Contrast Essay

The introduction of a compare and contrast essay is the most important part of the entire essay. This section introduces the reader to the two subjects selected by you for your essay and the thesis statement as well. Hence, it is crucial to make it strong, appealing, and believable to have the best impact on the reader. You can start your essay by introducing an interesting and appealing fact about each of your subjects.

You might also start by asking a question, which seems to work beautifully. Then you should outline the main question regarding the two subjects so that you can answer it using the thesis statement and the arguments that will follow. Giving some background on the subjects you are about to compare will help immensely. Finally, wrap up the introduction part with a concise thesis statement. Ideally, this statement should be an overview of the entire essay.

Few things you need to remember while writing the introduction:

1. You should be assertive as well as clear and avoid apologizing to your reader by saying that you are not an expert or that your opinion does not matter. Instead, you should be confident, and your confidence should show in your introduction.
2. You should also refrain from announcing your intentions candidly and formally. Instead, write it in such a way that your reader can perceive the purpose of your writing through the first two sentences at the beginning of your paragraph.
3. You should create a hook for your readers in the first sentence itself. A hook, which is the attention grabber, can help you to engage your reader straight away, especially if the topic you chose is a dry or a complex one. Try creating a hook using these points:
   1. You can use either an interesting or surprising example that will create a long-lasting impression on the reader’s mind or a provocative quotation that will intrigue the reader and compel him to read further into the essay.
   2. In the beginning, you can use a vivid anecdote, which is a short story with a moral. You can think of an anecdote that will be powerful for the beginning, or else, you can simply look through your research for any noteworthy anecdotes.
   3. You might also choose to start with a thought-provoking question that will get your reader to think more about your topic of the compare and contrast essay and engage more with your topic.
4. Once the introduction is nicely framed and written, you should revise your introduction part thoroughly. You can also use the alternative technique of writing a temporary introduction, with your thesis statement, and then revise it or rewrite it once you finish your essay.
5. In case you feel overwhelmed by the technicality of writing the introduction, and you feel unsure about what you have to argue in detail or how your main argument will take shape, then you should try to write your introduction at the very end.

Final Words

These are the basic steps to follow while writing an introduction that will not only appeal to the reader but also enthrall them, which will urge them to read more. That is the reason the introduction should be objective, strong, impactful, but interesting and captivating as well.