Student Worksheet: Compare and Evaluate
Student Worksheet for Compare-and-Contrast Essay
Compare-and-Contrast Essay
Length requirement:
Point of view (first person or third person): Third person
Due date:
Rhetorical mode and chosen topic:
Compare/contrast/evaluation
Research requirements:
While research is not required, please cite any research that you incorporate or consult. Your primary mode of information will come from your own observation, most likely.
Thinking ahead:
Essay’s main idea and thesis statement:
How do you treat people, places, and phenomena that have similarities and differences? How do you choose between these two related things or people? This is the purpose of a compare-and-contrast essay. Your thesis should frame the two to three subjects and allude to the importance of this comparison.
Basic necessary elements in paper:
- Thesis
- Logical organization
- Evidence
- Two to three similar, yet different, items to compare
- Introduction
- Conclusion
Questions to ask about the paper:
Did you choose items to compare that have appreciable differences and enough similarities?
Does your paper have a narrative, or is it a list? It should not be a list…
Does your essay have a thesis? Does it explain or gesture toward the significance of your comparison/contrast?
Does your paper organize the comparison/contrast in a logical fashion—usually by types of similarities/types of differences?