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The basis of a good compare and contrast paper is the thesis statement. For an essay to be effective, it should have a strong thesis that grabs the reader’s attention. If a paper doesn’t have one, or if it has one that’s no good, it probably won’t do well. To write an assignment of quality, understanding how to develop a compare and contrast thesis statement is key.
Before tackling the bulk of your work, you should focus on perfecting the thesis. This establishes the direction your work is going in. Approaching the thesis for compare and contrast essays from different angles helps writers produce one that’s worth reading.
If you’re wondering how to write a thesis for a compare and contrast essay, carry on reading this article. Learn more about this type of thesis for assignments and how you go about producing one. You’ll learn how to persuade the reader and tell them what your point of view is.
What Is a Compare and Contrast Essay Thesis?
So what is a compare and contrast thesis statement and what’s the purpose of one? It’s a brief summary of what your argument will be about. It introduces the reader to your argument and gives them a clear idea of what’s to come. Crafting one helps you develop the structure of a compare and contrast essay, as well as the outline. This is because it gets you thinking about your topics.
Condensing your whole work into a single summary can be challenging. However, doing so will help you expand your thoughts and come up with new ideas for the rest of your work.
Before coming up with the thesis statement for compare and contrast essay, ask yourself what your goal is. Simply put, it’s about finding and analysing the similarities and differences between two topics. Examples include:
- The emotional responses of men vs. women
- The MLA and APA citation styles
Writing about contrasting topics can be approached in two different ways. It’s important you understand each one before starting your work.
How Can a Compare and Contrast Essay Thesis Be Written?
In this section, we’ll look at writing good thesis statements for compare and contrast essays.
To produce one that's well-written, you should know where your work is heading. This means having a thorough understanding of the topics you’ll be contrasting.
You’ll probably have to do a lot of research to understand your topics well enough to write about them. Gather information and evidence that you can use in your work. Once you know enough about them, you should see how they differ and how they’re similar. This should reveal the relationship between the topics and what similarities and differences there are.
There are two main types of thesis statements: explanatory and evaluative. A persuasive thesis should clearly be of one type only.
What Is an Explanatory Thesis?
An explanatory thesis looks at two topics without bias. It’s quite common in university and college work since high-level academic work doesn’t accept personal writers’ opinions. Expository papers and research projects are examples of assignments that use this kind of statement. For pieces of work that include the writer’s opinion, a different type is preferable.
Here are some examples:
- Apple is one of the world’s most financially successful companies. Its products have generated billions of dollars in sales.
- Research suggests that to be healthy, you should have a balanced diet, get plenty of sleep and exercise regularly.
Some students who struggle with written assignments use our thesis writing service for help. We produce top-quality templates that students can use to improve their own work.
What Is an Evaluative Thesis?
On the other hand, an evaluative thesis is for assignments where the writer expresses opinions. These pieces of work usually have the writer favour a particular topic, idea, or argument over another. It presents multiple options and highlights one or more as the ideal one(s). At the same time, it invites whoever’s reading to come up with their own opinions.
If your assignment is evaluative, there’s no limit to what the focus of your assignment could be. The list of topics for comparative essays is endless. Whatever you focus on, ensure your knowledge of the topics is in-depth and that your evaluative reflects this.
Below are some examples:
- There are many language-learning techniques that people use. Some are more useful than others.
- Many critics praise Shakespeare’s work. However, there are some modern scholars who find fault with his plays.
Tips for Writing a Good Compare and Contrast Thesis
Any type of college or university work should have a good-quality argument. If you’re wondering how to make a compare and contrast thesis statement good, there are several simple yet worthwhile things to do. Follow the tips below to ensure yours is of good quality.
- Know what direction your piece of writing will head in. Understand your main argument and how you’ll conclude your work. If you’re struggling, create an outline and this should help you determine a route to go down.
- Choose a topic that’s quite specific but still has enough content to meet the word count. If your topic is too broad, it’ll be harder to condense everything.
- Include the most important comparisons and contrasts. Use an anchor chart to help determine what to include.
- Use compare and contrast words to give your summary more flow and improve its readability.
- Place the thesis statement of the compare and contrast essay at the end of the introduction. People reading your work should be able to easily identify it.
- Choose your tone of voice carefully. Use language that’s to the point but also informative. Don’t put any words or phrases in that aren’t necessary and don't contribute anything.
Use these tips to improve your thesis statement for comparison and contrast essays. Don’t just write it in a hurry; spend time on it because it’s an important part of your work. Come up with several versions and determine which one is likely to be the best to use.
Again, it’s best that you produce the thesis before tackling the rest of your comparison assignment. This is because it should help you determine where the argument is heading. It should also remind you of the key points you’ll be making throughout the work.
A compare and contrast essay thesis statement should be as long as necessary but, at the same time, as short as possible. Make it a few sentences in length. You should write what you need but not overdo it.
Compare and Contrast Thesis Formula
When composing a compare and contrast essay thesis, there’s a general formula you should stick to. Below is the formula in a single sentence. Further down are some examples.
"Although topics X and Y are similar because of A and B, topic X is (your argument) because of C and D."
How exactly does this formula work? First, you’ll identify the topics you’ll be discussing. These are X and Y. Then, you’ll focus on some facts that they have in common. These are A and B - you can have more, but two should be enough.
Then, you'll bring in your argument. You'll then say that topic X wins the argument because of reasons C and D. Again, there can be more reasons, but you should keep it brief and have just two or possibly one.
Here are some examples:
- Although medicine and chemistry are great degrees because of their job prospects and reputation, medicine is better for those who want to help people. This is because it involves direct contact with patients.
- While Spanish and French are easy to learn and widely spoken, Spanish is better for those living in the USA. The reason is that the USA has many more Spanish speakers.
- Although smartphones and tablets are great for mobile gaming, those who prefer a quality gaming experience prefer tablets. They cite the larger screens as the key reason why.
In each of the examples above, the topics X and Y are introduced early on. Then there are one or two things they have in common. Topic X is mentioned as fitting the argument. Finally, there’s an explanation for this that highlights a point topic X has that topic Y doesn’t.
Use our compare and contrast thesis template and improve your work with statements of quality. Getting your thesis statement for a compare and contrast paper is crucial if your work’s going to read well. Don’t forget to use our custom writing service if you’re stuck on drafting a thesis for compare and contrast papers and still need help. We have experienced essay, dissertation and even PowerPoint presentation writers available to help bring to ideal your assignment.
