Compare And Contrast Essay Topics Core Points

In most cases, essays are written on a given topic. Themes for essays can be very different from describing some comparison of a natural phenomenon to such written works associated with a comparison of two literary heroes.

The topic for essays lies in anything, and to choose it. You need to turn on your imagination and associate the future topic with your knowledge. Look at which science you are most powerful. It can be history or chemistry. It does not matter as soon as you decide on the strengths, the idea will come to mind, and you can start peeing without difficulties.

To choose a good topic, take a sheet and write down all the ideas that come to mind. Then analyze each of them. If you see that you have many ideas for its development, then feel free to get down to work. If you have difficulties with the formulation of arguments, examples, theses on the chosen topic, then look further for the topic in which you are strong.

Possible Sources For Choosing A Topic

To find a suitable topic, the following sources of information are appropriate:

• The most important and active creators of information flows are laws, where you can get ideas for yourself. But you cannot completely rewrite the topic, since the teacher may take it for plagiarism.
• The Internet is the most endless, most powerful, and sometimes the most deceitful source. You cannot recklessly trust him, but the worldwide network's information extraction is a vital matter.
• Classmates are not always reliable, but communication will help you find out the latest trends.
• Personal experience provides an invaluable opportunity to say something with full awareness of your righteousness.
• Books are an invaluable treasure. You have to go to the library and find what is closest to you.
• Films - directors create amazing biographical and historical films from which information can be gleaned no worse than books.
• Magazines - Many bright headlines and useful information from journalists will also be a good source of inspiration.
• Compare and contrast essay examples of other students - this does not mean that you need to rewrite all the text information. You can only look at how your peers wrote the document.

Topics Depend on Education Level

School education in the United States is divided into three stages:

• primary (grades 1-5) - children study basic compulsory subjects, go in for sports and creativity.
• secondary: Middle School (grades 6-8) or Junior High School (grades 7-9) - in addition to compulsory subjects, optional disciplines appear.
• senior classes: High School (9-12) or Senior High School (11-12) - reduction in the number of compulsory subjects, maximum freedom in choosing the disciplines studied. For the last two years, gifted students can learn Advanced Placement programs.

Depending on which class you study in, the topic is formed. It would help if you did not take a topic that does not correspond to your education level.

Compare and Contrast Essay Topics For 6th Grade

In grade 6, each subject is taught by a different teacher. At the same time, there are compulsory subjects and optional classes. Compulsory courses include English, mathematics, science, social studies, and physical education. Speaking of electives, excellent schools have tons of specialized courses of all kinds. Therefore, we believe that you need help with choosing a topic because you are just starting your middle school life:

1. It is better to study in the daytime or in the evening.
2. Similarities and differences between sleep and rest.
3. Compare and contrast running versus walking.
4. Similarities and differences between winter and summer vacations.
5. You like comics or TV shows more.
6. Compare two heroes Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Charmed Ones.
7. What are the similarities and differences between Pokemon and Sailor Moon?
8. The similarities and differences in making pizza and sushi.
9. Much better to go to a circus or a movie.
10. What brings more activity, swimming or licks.
11. Compare and contrast the life of a student in Ancient Greece and modern-day America.
12. Different genres of music and how they affect your mood and emotions.
13. Compare and contrast the main characters of two different fairy tales or myths.
14. Traditional schooling versus homeschooling.
15. Coffee versus tea: What are the similarities and differences in terms of health benefits and taste?

Essay Topics for Middle School

All middle school students study compulsory subjects (English, mathematics, US history, world history, physics, biology, chemistry, and others). They can also choose among additional subjects (technology, art, music, computer science, foreign language). Based on this, we have collected the top topics in various subjects:

1. Compare the English literature of the 15th century and the 20th century in what is the difference and similarity.
2. What is common and different in algebra and geometry.
3. History of the United States during the reigns of George Washington and George W. Bush.
4. What discoveries of the Curie and Alfred-Bernhard Nobel families are similar, and what are their differences.
5. What is common and different in the paintings of Van Gogh and Leonardo Da Vinci.
6. What is expected in 3D drawings and sculptures, and what is different.
7. Human evolution, according to the theory of Darwin and Linnaeus.
8. What is common in the music of Beethoven and Bach, what is the difference.
9. How fashion has evolved over the centuries, what things of the modern world are similar to other centuries, and the difference.
10. Compare and contrast dinosaurs from different periods.
11. How the American Revolution and the French Revolution were similar and different in their causes and effects.
12. Characteristics and purposes of a smartphone and a laptop and how they relate to each other.
13. Similarities and differences in the themes and styles of two different poets or authors.
14. Common and unique aspects of basketball and soccer as sports.
15. Benefits and drawbacks of living in a city or a rural area and how they differ from each other.

Essay Themes for High School

High school is the last stage of secondary education. Therefore, you have already accumulated a lot of experience during your studies, and you know what an essay is. Still, our interesting essay topics for high school students will be useful for all students because we understand how difficult it is to choose when there are so many written essays behind us:

1. What is better to lie for good or to tell the truth to avoid consequences.
2. How to define a good teacher from a bad one.
3. Compare and contrast parental controls versus total freedom.
4. Students are afraid of being alone, describing why it is better to be with friends and the benefits of being alone.
5. Do students have a friendship between a man and a woman? What is the difference and similarity between friends when you are still children?
6. Social network Instagram vs. Facebook, what are the differences and similarities.
7. What is better is a book about Harry Potter or a film and how much the events are conveyed during the film's reading and viewing.
8. What is better to choose is healthy food or fast food.
9. What would you choose to wake up early or late? What are the advantages of each of them?
10. How democracy and dictatorship are similar and different as forms of government.
11. Characteristics and functions of a plant cell and an animal cell and how they relate to each other.
12. Similarities and differences in the plot and characters of two different novels or movies.
13. Common and unique features of classical music and rock music as genres.
14. Benefits and drawbacks of studying abroad or in your home country and how they differ from each other.
15. Similarities and differences in the culture and lifestyle of two different countries or regions.

Essay Themes for College

US colleges can help develop the necessary academic skills, mature emotionally. But you can't get away from essays. Therefore, we have compiled a list of the best essay topics for college students:

1. Difference between high school and college
2. What would you take the humanities or exact disciplines?
3. Which foreign language is better: Spanish or French.
4. Who is the stricter school principal or college dean?
5. What is more challenging is to do a report or data statistics.
6. Which test is more difficult: IELTS or SAT.
7. What do you expect from your college vacation and what you get in reality?
8. You would choose to be an adult or go back to childhood.
9. Rest with tents in the mountains or overnight at the hotel.
10. How does a luxurious lifestyle differ from a poor one? Is it possible to achieve success without having money?
11. Contrasting roles and responsibilities of a CEO and a manager in a company.
12. Similarities and differences between socialism and capitalism in terms of economic systems.
13. Differing approaches to healthcare in developed and developing countries.
14. Compare and contrast city and rural living in terms of lifestyle and environment.
15. Varying attitudes towards marriage and family in different cultures and societies.

Topics Depend on Subject

The choice of the essay topic is a critical stage; the possibility of the work's success largely depends on the degree of success in passing it. If the project's topic is unsuccessful, then the student's long-term work is doomed to failure. This is because there are projects for which, in the foreseeable future, it is possible to create original and exciting research, and there are those where it is difficult to do this shortly. The project manager will help you with choosing a topic. Depending on the subject that your teacher is missing, topics can be divided into the following parts:

• Historical;
• Mathematical;
• Political;
• Philosophical;
• Scientific;
• Themes about informatics;
• Themes about art and music;
• Literary themes;
• Biological.

The list is still long, but we have prepared controversial essay topics for 2020. You can familiarize yourself with the list of topics below and choose the most interesting for your subject.

Topics About Politics and History

1. In their policy, who has more managed to embody the ideas of government for Lincoln or Washington. In what ways their policies were similar, and in what they differed.
2. People during the Renaissance and people during the Baroque, how it differed, and what traditions were preserved.
3. Compare and contrast Anthropology vs. Religious Studies.
4. In what ways the American government was similar to the Soviet government and in what was different.
5. Who was more successful Prime Minister Winston Сhurchill or President Franklin D. Roosevelt? Compare their position about people.
6. How people lived in the north and south before the Civil War in the United States?
7. Who achieved more fame as Henry VIII or King Louis XIV.
8. The concepts of fascism and Nazism are the same or different.
9. What is the difference in the events and consequences during the First and Second World War, what are the similarities?
10. Women's clothing during the Renaissance and men's, how the style changed in the future?
11. Similarities and differences between the American and French Revolutions in terms of their causes, outcomes, and impact on world history.
12. Role of propaganda in Nazi Germany and Communist Russia. How it was used to shape public opinion and maintain political power?
13. The contrasting foreign policy strategies pursued by the United States during the Cold War and in the post-Cold War era.
14. Similarities and differences between the civil rights movements in the United States and South Africa.
15. Historical and political factors that led to the rise of authoritarian regimes in Russia, China, and North Korea, and how these regimes differ.

Teenage Compare And Contrast Essay Topics

1. Is it reasonable to be a child, or is it better to be an adult?
2. What would you choose to live at home with a guardian or on campus?
3. What helps develop imagination better: reading books or watching a story on a computer or TV screen.
4. What would you choose in the future: become a freelancer or work in an office?
5. What is more complicated than academic writing or scientific writing?
6. What do TV or radio value more in the modern world?
7. Is it easier to get a college degree or build a career?
8. Compare and contrast two cultures: Greek and Roman.
9. What is more interesting, pursuits in science or art?
10. Online learning or offline learning, what are the similarities and differences.
11. Differences and similarities between the expectations and realities of high school life.
12. Contrasting social dynamics of being popular and being an outsider in high school.
13. Similarities and differences between the experiences of introverted and extroverted teenagers in social situations.
14. Varying approaches to time management and study habits among high school students.
15. The differing attitudes towards dating and romantic relationships among teenagers from different cultural backgrounds.

Essay Topics About IT And Social Media

1. How do you envision the future if the only email remains instead of traditional mail?
2. What gives more results to online trading or trading on the market?
3. What are the differences and similarities in communication on the Internet and communication in real life?
4. What is more interesting to play: games on a computer or a smartphone?
5. Which magazine do you find more interesting to read, New York Times or Forbes?
6. In your opinion, are there any similarities or differences between FaceBook and MySpace? Is it possible to assume that both social networks bring the same benefits?
7. Is it better to look for work on the Internet or in newspaper advertisements?
8. Do you prefer to watch the news on the Internet or read in the newspaper?
9. Do you prefer to watch the news on the Internet or read in the newspaper?
10. When marketing companies provide online advertising and banner ads, which benefits more, are there any similarities?
11. Is it better to create 3D models on a computer or using paper, plasticine?
12. Similarities and differences between the use of social media by businesses and individuals.
13. Contrasting benefits and risks of online shopping and in-person shopping to consumers and businesses.
14. Impact of social media on personal and professional relationships.
15. Approaches to privacy and security on social media platforms by users and companies.

Ideas About Movie and Music

1. In the modern world, films are preferred over books; why? Compare the two media outlets.
2. Which is more popular than jazz or rock?
3. Compare the two characters from The Lord of the Rings: Sam vs. Frodo Baggins.
4. Compare the two Harry Potter heroes: Ron Weasley and Peter Pettigrew.
5. What advances happened during the times of American cinematography and Soviet cinematography?
6. Do you think Thor and Loki were more friends or enemies?
7. What are the common and different in horror movies and trailers?
8. Compare the two strong characters Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy.
9. Are modern cartoons more interesting than movie events?
10. Would you rather listen to music with headphones or speakers?
11. Similarities and differences between the use of music and sound effects in horror movies and in action movies to create suspense and tension.
12. Storytelling techniques used in musicals and in dramas to convey emotion and meaning to the audience.
13. Compare the impact of music and movies on popular culture and society.
14. Approaches to diversity and representation in movies and music.
15. Contrasting challenges facing emerging filmmakers and musicians in the digital age.

Literature Topics

1. 18th century of American literature and 19th-century literature?
2. Is it more interesting to read the novels of the classics or new poets in the modern world?
3. Facets of American Literature of the Second Half of the 19th Century?
4. The turn of the century in American literature?
5. Main lines in the USA's literary process in the first half of the twentieth century and the twenty-first-century directions?
6. Literary History of the United States.
7. Which evolved more comedy or drama?
8. Do you agree with the opinion, based on the book Little Women, that you cannot achieve anything without labor in life, or you still need to rely on a miracle?
9. What are the similarities and differences between the literature of strictly time and today?
10. What are people more interested in studying prose or lyrics?
11. Portrayal of female characters in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.
12. Use of symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea.
13. Themes of love and betrayal in William Shakespeare's Othello and Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.
14. Character development of Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and Jack Kerouac's On the Road.
15. Use of satire in George Orwell's Animal Farm and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

Topic Ideas About Science

1. What is the best invention for humanity: the emergence of the computer or the telephone?
2. What is more challenging to study physics or chemistry?
3. Compare and contrast Milky Way and Andromeda.
4. How is Earth different and similar to Mars?
5. The first flight to space and the second, which one was more successful?
6. Whose innovation is better than Archimedes or DaVinci?
7. What are the consequences of two disasters: earthquakes or tsunamis?
8. There are few resources left for life in the modern world, or will scientists still manage to make them by piece?
9. How do chemical formulas differ from each other?
10. Why is physics so similar to mathematics, and what is the difference?
11. Similarities and differences between the theories of evolution and intelligent design.
12. Comparison of the biological systems involved in human vision and animal vision.
13. Compare the processes of mitosis and meiosis in cellular division.
14. Differences and similarities between the human and chimpanzee genome.
15. Benefits and drawbacks of traditional medicine and modern medicine in treating diseases.

Philosophy Topics

1. Two concepts: life and death. From philosophy, which of them brings more grief, and what kind of happiness, explain your choice.
2. In your opinion, is it better to constantly dream or live reality?
3. Is it better to be lonely or have a lot of friends, which is better?
4. How do a person's physical needs differ and mental conditions?
5. Whose philosophical ideas are better than Macbeth or Hamlet?
6. A dog is a friend of man or vice versa. How are we similar to them?
7. Whose philosophical opinions are more convincing than the Greek philosophers or the Roman ones?
8. Why do we become wiser as we get older, or can we also think like adults in childhood?
9. Are philosophical films better for perception, or are all such books?
10. Philosophy in school and college, which is more difficult?
11. Theories of knowledge presented in Plato's Theaetetus and Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy.
12. Comparison of the philosophical ideas of existentialism and absurdism.
13. Similarities and differences between the political philosophies of liberalism and conservatism.
14. Metaphysical concepts of dualism and monism.
15. Similarities and differences between the ethical theories of deontology and consequentialism.

FAQ About Compare and Contrast Essay

Compare and contrast an essay is a form of academic writing; most often an essay is used by professors at the university. This type of paper should not be divided into two different concepts. It would help if you wrote several paragraphs where you will compare or contrast events, phenomena, theories. To compare is to explore the similarities between things. And to contrast items means to see differences or advantages.

Thus, it would help if you remembered that this essay's task is to find similarities and differences between several objects. Having asked this type of essay, teachers want to understand how well you have mastered classes' topic. For example, in geology, you may be asked to compare and contrast two time periods; in mathematics, these are methods, theories; in literature, these are two or more characters.

If you learn how to write this kind of essay, you can write more complex papers. When you need to prove your point of view, you can compare arguments, examples. Therefore, you are more likely to combine several types of essays into one document.

Do not confuse this type of paper with an examination task, where you need to indicate in writing the differences or similarities of objects. Your task is to highlight one thing and not all together. For example, it looks like this:

• Compare and contrast Newton's versus Einstein's theory of graphitization. It is seen here that it is necessary to indicate both the similarities and differences.
• Please do your research on the economies of Sweden and Spain, how similar they are. In this task, you only need to indicate the similarities in the economies of the two countries.
• Write about the differences between the two periods of the Paleolithic and Neolithic. Your task is to indicate the difference between two time periods.

How to write a compare and contrast essay?

To write a compare and contrast essay, you need to choose a topic. It would help if you chose only the topic in which you are well-versed. Then, make a list of comparative differences and similarities for the topic.

Next, start writing your thesis. Make a statement on the differences and generalities in the topic. Discuss why readers need to be informed of these comparisons and differences. There may be many similarities and differences, but include those that reinforce the argument of the essay.

The essay's arguments are facts, phenomena of social life, events, life situations and life experience, scientific evidence, references to scientists' opinions, etc. It is better to give two arguments in favor of each thesis: one argument seems unconvincing, three arguments can "overload" the presentation, made in a genre focused on brevity and imagery.

Finally, you can write the central part. The essay's body will include three points, each of which is limited to one main idea that supports your thesis. To correctly write each of these three body points, you must indicate your basic idea, the topic of the sentence, then copied with two or three sentences from the evidence.

It remains only to write a conclusion. The last paragraph will summarize your main points and reaffirm your main claim (from your thesis proposal). Your highlights should be noted but should not repeat specific examples, and should, as always, leave a lasting impression on the reader.

What are the main functions of compare and contrast essay?

The primary function of compare and contrast essays is to help the reader make a decision. For example, a person does not know which book to read to him, but he will decide which one is better because you analyze two books. But that's not all. You can also choose between communication issues, items, events, or the two parties' politics.

Thanks to your paper, the person will know which decision to make and in whose favor. Before making conclusions, they want to understand in which direction to move. The information that you convey to the reader will make him aware of the question, the answers to which he could not find for a long time.

What parts does a compare and contrast essay share?

Many people are afraid of compare and contrast essays, but in reality, everything is simple when you consider the constituent parts of the essay and the simple rules that need to be followed. Components of the paper:

• Introduction;
• Content;
• Conclusion.

The introductory and concluding parts of the essay can be correctly written only under one condition: if the central part contains the main elements of reasoning - the thesis and arguments. An introduction to the essay is necessary to prepare the reader for the perception of our reason, and secondly, it is impossible to open the topic without it. The introduction may sometimes be absent. That is, an essay-reasoning can be started directly with the statement of the thesis if the compare and contrast essay writer does not need to agree on something with the reader in advance. But in the central part, you write all those characteristics that you want to compare.

How do I choose two subjects?

All of you must have heard the catchphrase: "Everything is known in comparison." Indeed, it is possible to evaluate something, to establish what it is, whether it is good or bad, what a given object is, only by comparing it with some other. To do this, you need to select two comparison objects that carry the same functions. For example, you can compare things like:

• Fruits and vegetables;
• Picasso and Dali;
• Google Doc and Word program;
• College and University;
• Middle School and High School;
• Volleyball and Basketball;
• Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

How do I choose the similarities and differences?

To compare objects, one must first identify their common properties, and only then establish by what properties these objects are similar (the same, equal), and by what properties they are different (not the same). If objects are such that they have no common properties at all, then they cannot be compared.

For example, a triangle and a polynomial do not seem to have any common properties, and therefore they cannot be compared. A triangle can be compared with another triangle. A polynomial can be compared with another polynomial with a polygon, but it makes no sense to compare a polynomial triangle.

Look at numbers 4, 16, 38, 10. Compare them, what do they have in common? Perhaps only that they are all-natural numbers, and all are even. But the numbers 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36 have an essential property in common: they are all squares of consecutive natural numbers. Therefore, if you need to continue the first sequence of numbers, then after 10 you can put any even number. Still, in the second after 36 you can put only 49, then 64, to preserve these numbers' noticed common property (regularity).

How to determine the main argument in an essay?

The argument is the most challenging phase of persuasion. It requires knowledge, the concentration of attention, endurance, presence of mind, assertiveness and correctness of statements, the need to master the material, and a clear definition of the task. Do not forget that we are dependent on the interlocutor, because it is he who ultimately decides whether he accepts our arguments or not.

Persuasive influence on business communication partners is achieved through argumentation. Argumentation is a logical-communicative process aimed at substantiating one person's position with a view to its subsequent understanding and acceptance by another person—argumentation structure - thesis, arguments, and demonstration.

• A thesis is a statement of your position (your opinion, your proposal to the other party, etc.).
• Arguments are positions, evidence that you give to substantiate your point of view.
• The demonstration is the connection between the thesis and the argument (i.e., the process of proving, persuading).

How do I create supporting evidence?

The proof is the central part of the text. Words are used for it, secondly, thirdly. A quote is an easy way to prove your point. Few would dare to argue with the statement of a famous person or publication. But if you make up your mind, this can be a good ground for posing a problem.

The main rule for the design of quotations is that the reader must understand where it begins and ends. Use quotes or editorial and design techniques: changing the font style, highlighting color, typing on a plate, or framing. It is not necessary to quote word for word. The main thing is to convey the idea so that your proof is not empty words.