How to do a compare and contrast essay

Begin with a topic sentence that explains one area of comparison between your first subject and your second subject. For example, if your subjects are two different countries and your paragraph topic is political structure, you can start by broadly describing each country's political processes.

A comparison-contrast paragraph has three main parts. The topic sentence introduces two subjects and says something about them. The body sentences give details about how the two subjects are alike and different. The ending sentence sums up how the subjects are the same or different.

Compare and contrast essays are academic papers in which a student analyses two or more subjects with each other. To compare means to explore similarities between subjects, while to contrast means to look at their differences.