During the years of studies, you will be asked to write papers based on comparing and contrasting two things.
These can be texts or books or ideas, and there are several cases you might be working with – these two things may either be completely different or in the process, you might find some surprising similarities.
Writing a comparative analysis can be tricky, so the following scheme might help you learn the main parts of the paper. Hopefully, it will be helpful for you!
Frame of Reference
This one is the context in which you are comparing the two things. Let’s say you are comparing two novels – the frame might be some idea, or theory, or a problem in the context of which you are making a comparison. Most of the time you will bet the frame of reference at the task, or at least you will have in included in the course.
Grounds for Comparison
In this section, you are basically explaining the choice of the objects to compare. For example, if you are comparing the way success is portrayed in two novels, you should explain to the reader why exactly you are doing this on the material of these very books.
Thesis
As long as you are writing a comparative paper, arguments will be reflected in your thesis, and it flows right from the frame of reference you started with. Also, it is important that you state the way these two objects relate to each other – do they debate the issue, or contradict, or corroborate each other?
Be sure that this A and B relationship is clearly seen in your paper.
Organizational Scheme
The introduction as the essential part of an essay will include a frame of reference, grounds for comparison, and thesis, and the body can have one of the following structures.
You can either go one-by-one, talking about one text and then proceed to another, or you can go point-by-point – a point from text A and the comparable from B. The choice can be based on the type of text relation – if one is extending the other, choose to go one by one, and for the debatable texts the second option will be much better.
Linking of A and B
Keeping in mind the thesis you had at the beginning, be sure to link the two compared objects – this will not only hold the essay together but also show the