Comparative Paper Tips

Why do professors assign comparative papers?

In a comparative paper, the goal is to analyze multiple texts in the same paper. Professors assign comparative essays because analyzing multiple texts in conversation with one another can help you understand them better. This resource is intended to help you with starting to write a comparative paper. If you have any additional questions, please visit us at the Writing Center.

What does analysis for a comparative paper look like?

A comparative essay is a little more complex than just summarizing texts, it requires you to compare and contrast perspectives. Here are some methods for analyzing:

• Break-up Artist: Find something the topics have in common, and explore the subtle differences, emphasizing how those differences matter.

• Matchmaker: Find something that appears blatantly different, and explore similarities, emphasizing how those similarities matter.

This is a great way to start your process. The points you find while analyzing can be used to help you construct your thesis. In your essay, expand on those points and analyze the similarities and differences you found. Explain why these comparisons and contrasts are essential to understanding these types of arguments and why understanding them in the ways you highlight matters for your target audience.

Don't feel obligated to devote equal space to the different parts of your thesis. You may have more to say about one focus than the other or more analysis of one aspect of your thesis than

another. Feel free to weigh your paper accordingly, but remember, this paper is about both focuses and if you neglect one, your reader may wonder why it's there.

What does a thesis for a comparative paper look like?

Thesis statements for comparative papers tend to be longer than for papers with a single focus—sometimes three sentences. Your thesis should address the topics you're comparing and why analyzing them together matters. Here are a couple examples:

• "Whereas in public writing the thesis is often not stated until the end, in scholarly argument, it should be in the abstract or stated as a hypothesis in the introduction."

• "Whereas double rainbows stretched all the way across the sky are so intense, rainbows from sprinkler drops are hard to see."

• "Whilst students send emails to professors to ask questions about assignments, professors say it's in the syllabus.”

How do I organize a comparative paper?

Comparison is part of an argument, rather than a particular structure, so you have a lot of options for organization. Here are a few options you can try:

• Spend the first part on one focus, the second on the other.

  • If you choose this option, it can be helpful to remind your reader of the points you made in the first part of the essay while writing the second part.

• Spend the first part on the similarities, and the second on the differences.

• Alternate paragraphs on each focus.

• Organize the paragraphs into the points you want to make, discussing the focuses at the same time.