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Compare and contrast essay writing is one of the most common types of assignment at school and university, so it is important that you perfect the structure of this type of paper early on in your academic life. Many students pick the wrong subjects and find it difficult to create any real arguments, leading to a lack of ideas and low grades. In order to help you avoid this, we have created a handy guide that will both inspire your thinking prior to putting pen to paper, and assist you with the format of the assignment.

1. Pick two suitable subjects for your essay
The subjects that you choose will be of great importance to your assignment, as they will influence the arguments and reasoning that go into the paper. When selecting your subjects, make sure that you choose two that are different enough to provide you with adequate arguments and key points for the body of your essay. However, you must also ensure that the two subjects you choose are similar enough to be fairly compared with each other. Our suggestion is to do a little research on your subjects before making a final decision about what you are going to write about, as many students research their topics as they write, before finding that they have run out of ideas and arguments halfway through writing their essays.

2. Select a format to highlight your main points

There are a couple of different options when it comes to creating a format for your assignment. The one that you choose will depend on your arguments and how they will be best presented to the reader. However, if your teacher has given you a specific structure to follow with the instructions for your paper, please make sure you stick to that. Some of the different formats are as below:

– Subject by subject: If you select this format for your paper, you will discuss all points for subject A first, before moving on to talk about subject B. The advantage of this structure is that your teacher will be able to follow your ideas easily without having to jump backwards and forwards between subjects. However, the disadvantage is that some students fall into the trap of merely describing the two subjects without making sufficient comparisons.

– Point by point: In order to ensure that you are making enough valid comparisons, you may like to structure your paper point by point. The only downside to this format is that you will be constantly switching between the two subjects, so make sure that you are clearly stating which one you are referring to throughout the paper.

– Compare and then contrast: This is perhaps the most concise way of structuring your paper, as it allows the reader to focus on the similarities and differences separately. However, your teacher won’t read about the differences until later on in the assignment, so make sure you don’t spend too long discussing the similarities at the beginning.

3. Put your researched ideas into the format
Now that you have your format you can start slotting your ideas into the paragraphs in the main body of text. Essay writing is about showing your teacher that you understand how ideas link together and what relevance they have to the research you have done, so make sure your paragraphing makes this clear. Get essay help from your classmates by asking to see examples of their work, but beware of using too many of their ideas and being penalized for plagiarism. Go over your research and look at why it is relevant to your paper; if you find you have some information gaps you can always go back and do a bit more reading when necessary.

4. Write the main body of your paper
Once you have completed the general outline of the paper you can start the actual writing process. Although many students worry about this part, it is actually the easiest stage of the whole assignment if you have spent enough time on the previous steps. However, if you do find yourself becoming too worried about creating the final version, you could always ask an essay service like 123writings.com for some assistance. If you decide to complete the assignment yourself, take a break of a few days before going back to review your work, as this will allow you to see it through fresh eyes.

Remember, never be afraid to ask for writing help when you need it. This type of assignment can be tricky to master, so spend time doing your research and looking at examples each and every time your teacher gives you a task to work on. Put the effort in and you will soon reap the rewards.