Essays come in so many forms and lengths. The compare contrast essay is one most common forms students are frequently asked to write. This is a quick guide on how to write a perfect one.

Pick A Topic

You might know that the perfect essay you plan to write should start by identifying your topic. Unless prompted, your topic could be anything you like to write about. You’ve already learned how to write an essay. You might have also read a compare contrast essay example. Now, you are ready to write one. The topic you choose should be about something you know about or you research well. In a compare contrast essay, you must note, however, choosing your topic goes a long way in your writing process. If you choose to compare and contrast two works of art, you can do so in many ways. For instance, you might want to compare and contrast style elements, artists, and historical periods. The choice you make will define how you should proceed later in your essay. So, choosing to compare and contrast style elements, for example, that means you keep your essay focused on style only. The mention of artists, historical periods or any other factors should always be secondary to style. The topic you choose (e.g. two works of art) should, accordingly, be narrowed down to a specific criterion (e.g. style). So, pick your topic carefully before you go ahead and start planning for your essay. If stuck, you can get professional help from a professional essay writing service.

Identify Similarities and Differences

The similarities and differences you identify should follow the establishment of your compare/contrast criterion. If anything, similarities and differences are at the heart of any contrast essay. At this point, you’re still gathering as much information as possible, though. As you identify similarities and differences, you shouldn’t really bother much about how you list them. That’s, you’re currently at a brainstorming phase where all you need is to list all possible similarities and differences. To do so, you must do proper research so you cover as many similarities and differences as possible. Indeed, you might find out more about your topic than you’ve initially believed you know. More, doing research helps establish a pattern you can make use of to develop an outline for your essay. (More about that shortly.) For more help, you might draw on pre-written essay examples, even on slavery essay topics. Or, you might reach out for a custom essay writing service to get you started in developing your outline. In any case, make sure you’re on track by properly taking notes and doing proper research about your chosen topic.