Comparison Essay Outline Sample Worth Considering

Comparison essays are a common type of assignment among high school and college students. But most students struggle with how to begin writing a compare and contrast essay. Therefore, this article will guide you through a comparison essay outline sample to craft the perfect essay outline for your academic work.

A compare and contrast essay is an important academic writing where students analyze two or more similar subjects. When you compare two subjects, you examine their similarities, and when you contrast them, you highlight their differences.

So, let’s learn more about writing a comparison essay and structuring its content in a meaningful way.

What Is a Comparison Essay?

A comparison essay should compare and contrast two things, events, or theories and identify their key similarities and differences. But make sure that the two items you compare fall into the same category. The objective of the paper is to make it clear how the analyzed criteria are similar to each other or different from one another.

The most important aspect of your essay is to make sure that your findings are supported by empirical evidence. While you can think one subject is superior to another, it’s crucial to provide evidence to back up your position.

The Basic Comparison Essay Outline Sample

The importance of an essay outline must not be understated. An outline serves as the internal framework that supports the essay. You won’t even have a proper essay structure without an outline.

A good comparison essay must have three core sections: Introduction, body, and conclusion. It is suggested that you jot down all the similarities and differences between the subjects you want to compare before you begin writing. Here’s how you must outline a comparison essay:

Introduction Paragraph

When drafting an outline, it’s not necessary to compose the entire introduction of the essay. However, the introduction must consist of three key points. It must start with a hook to entice the reader to continue reading the essay.

Then, introduce the topic of your essay and introduce the theme. End the introductory paragraph by stating your thesis statement, which specifies the core argument of the essay.

Body Paragraphs

Factual analysis plays a major role in a compare and contrast essay. You can compose a compare-and-contrast essay outline in two different ways.

You can use either the block method or the point-by-point method to help you organize your findings. It’s important to choose which method you want to follow before you start writing your essay. And you must stick to one of these methods of writing.

Point-by-Point Method

The Point by point method follows an organization-by-criteria approach that compares and contrasts the more similar subjects in nature. It lists the similarities and differences between the two subjects one at a time.

Consider using a point-by-point arrangement if you write lengthy essays and want readers to follow your ideas clearly. This method is excellent when you need to compare items with many similarities or differences.

This structure model provides an accessible, paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of specific characteristics of the two items in question. Here is a quick structure of a point-by-point outline for the first two body paragraphs.

First Body Paragraph:

• Write the first topic sentence.
• The first feature about the First subject, followed by criteria and facts.
• The first feature about the Second subject is followed by criteria and facts.

Second Body Paragraph:

• Write the second topic sentence
• The second feature about the First subject is followed by criteria and facts.
• The second feature about the Second subject, followed by criteria and facts.

Block Method

The block pattern uses an item-based method of arrangement to compare and contrast subjects that are remarkably different from one another. In one paragraph, one subject is covered along with all relevant evaluation criteria, facts, and supporting evidence. The second subject is covered in the following paragraph with its relevant details.

Follow the block method when you’re writing a brief comparison essay and the compared objects are difficult to evaluate. Here is a quick structure of a block outline for the first two body paragraphs.

First Body Paragraph:

• Write the first topic sentence.
• The first feature is about the first subject, followed by facts and evaluation.
• Second feature about the first subject, followed by facts and evaluation.
• The third feature of the first subject is followed by facts and evaluation.

Second Body Paragraph:

• Write the second topic sentence.
• The first feature is about the second subject, followed by facts and evaluation.
• The second feature about the second subject is followed by facts and evaluation.
• The third feature about the second subject is followed by facts and evaluation.

Conclusion Paragraph

For the purpose of the outline, you can just restate the thesis statement in the conclusion.

However, we advise you to elaborate on the conclusion when using the framework to create a compare and contrast essay. It should describe the relevance of the findings of your compare or contrast analysis rather than just restating your argument. You can close the paragraph by briefly explaining the result of the research.

Wrapping Up

Students often dread any type of essay writing, and when it comes to a comparison essay, they just don’t know where to begin. A compare and contrast essay is simple if you follow the proper structure.

Outlining your essay before writing is an excellent way to not miss out on any important points and give your essay a prominent structure. The point-by-point and block methods are simple and effective ways of outlining a comparison essay. This article will guide you through each outline in detail to help you craft a compelling essay.