How to structure a compare-and-contrast essay

The hardest part of structuring a compare-and-contrast essay is knowing when to talk about which subject. Essentially, you have three options:

block method (subject by subject): You discuss one subject in full and then move on to the next subject.

example – http://www.essaybyexample.com/free-essay-samples/essay-melville-moby-dick-poe-the-raven-comparative.php

The block method is usually divided into paragraphs:

a paragraph about one subject and then a new paragraph about another subject.

Take the compare-and-contrast essay example When Nothing Lies Beyond the Mask: Comparing Moby Dick and The Raven. In the first paragraph after the introduction, the author talks only about Ahab from Moby Dick, but in the next paragraph talks only about the narrator from The Raven. Each subject gets its own paragraph.

Using the block method, you can go back and forth like this for pages, covering as many topics as you need.
This approach is best for giving each subject its own attention

but tends to slightly weaken the connection between the two.

alternating method (point by point):

example – http://www.essaybyexample.com/free-essay-samples/essay-comparative-scifi-novels-movies.php

You discuss one subject’s take on a certain aspect and then another subject’s take immediately afterward, followed by a new aspect.

As another option, you can break paragraphs up by a specific topic and issue, and in each paragraph discuss both or all subjects. Let’s look at another compare-and-contrast essay example, The Reality of Science Fiction: Comparing Clarke to Cruise. Here, both subjects are discussed in the same paragraph, one right after another.

This approach works best when you want to emphasize the connection between your subjects, or lack thereof. In our example above, the author wishes to highlight just how different the aliens of Arthur Clarke are from those of other authors, particularly H. G. Wells. To emphasize this, the essay author juxtaposes the two points right next to each other in the same paragraph.

similarities and differences

ref – http://www.essaybyexample.com/free-essay-samples/essay-orwell-1984-zamyatin-we-comparative.php

You discuss all the similarities between your subjects and then all the differences, or vice versa (differences first and then similarities).

The third option is quite similar to the alternating approach, with each subject being discussed side by side in the same paragraph. However, the paragraphs aren’t divided by different topics, but instead by what the subjects have in common and what they don’t.

Take a look at the compare-and-contrast essay example Government by the People, for the People has Perished from the Earth, which compares the dystopias of George Orwell’s 1984 and Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We. The first paragraph after the introduction discusses what the governments in the two books have in common, but the next paragraph explains how they differ.

This method works best if you want to focus on a particular similarity or difference between your subjects, or if you want to build up to a powerful conclusion or reveal at the end.