difference between composition and essay writing

Essay vs Composition: Difference and Comparison

Some students make a mistake, thinking an essay and composition are synonymous. These terms are not contrary on the one side, and on the other side, there is a significant distinction between them.

Key Takeaways Essay and composition are both forms of academic writing that require critical thinking, analysis, and effective communication; essay is a more specific term that refers to a piece of writing that presents a thesis statement and supports it with evidence and analysis. The composition can encompass various types of writing, including essays, narratives, and descriptive pieces; an essay is a specific type of composition with a more structured format. An essay includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, while composition may not have a specific structure or format.

Essay vs. Composition

Essays are about the writer’s opinion on a particular topic. They are structured and follow patterns, including an introduction, a body paragraph, and a conclusion. The composition can be about any topic, and it is not structured. It is not about any specific opinion or argument.

As such, essay and composition are not interchangeable terms. They also have different writing purposes. An essay aims to push readership to develop their position on a topic. A composition explains the topic and compares phenomena without declaring the author’s position.

An essay is a text of a small volume (sometimes a college essay can be up to 7-10 pages long, but usually, the required volume is not more than 2-3 pages). The essay is written in a prosaic style. In an essay, the author states his personal opinion on a topic.

The author can express his vision in a free form. In an essay, the author is speaking on a particular phenomenon, event, or opinion that is reasoning with his view. The essay requires not only gathering specific relevant information but also adding it to your thoughts and arguments.

This is not a one-day job for most students. That is why they apply to paper writing services for help from skilled professional writers. These services aim to teach students how to explain their thoughts and structure their essays correctly.

The work created with the help of writing services is a completed essay that can be added to the student’s impressions. The composition is a creative paper presenting the author’s thoughts and feelings on the topic without explaining his opinion.

For example, the composition topic about the Great Depression is “Franklin D. Roosevelt’s role during the Great Depression.” The essay topic about the Great Depression will be: “Did the New Deal solve the problem of the Great Depression?”

Comparison Table

What is essay.

This genre has recently become popular, but its roots date back to the 16 th century. Today, the essay is offered as a college and university assignment. An essay is a type of work built around a central topic.

The main purpose of writing an essay is to provoke the reader into reflection . Writing an essay allows learning to formulate your thoughts, structure information, find arguments, express the individual impression, and formulate your position.

The characteristics of an essay are a small volume, a specific topic, and free composition. The author must build a trusting relationship with the reader; therefore, writing an essay is much more difficult than writing a composition.

What is Composition?

A composition is a creative work, on a prescribed topic. It has a clear presentation structure.

In the composition, you can agree or disagree with the opinion of other authors, express your thoughts about what you read, compare works of different authors, and analyze their vision. A composition is expected to provide full disclosure of the topic.

To provide it, the paper must follow a set structure: an introduction that outlines the essential problem of the topic. This body explains and reveals the main idea of the composition and a logical conclusion. Therefore, a composition has a larger volume than an essay.

Main Differences Between An Essay And Composition

• There is a significant difference in style. A composition mainly contains the analysis of the topic. At the same time, the author’s position is clearly expressed in the essay.
• Compositions and essays vary in length. The essay, most often, has a small volume because the author’s thoughts must be clearly stated. The composition has a prescribed structure and a larger volume.
• An essay allows the author to express creativity and show his vision and attitude toward a specific phenomenon. A composition explains the topic according to its concept and doesn’t have to be supplemented with unusual thoughts. 
• To write an essay, finding an original idea or developing an out-of-the-box view of a situation is significant. At the same time, writing a composition requires reading about the topic and talking about it.  

Last Updated : 11 June, 2023

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Home » Education » Difference Between Essay and Composition

Difference Between Essay and Composition

Main difference – essay vs composition.

Many students think that the two words Essay and Composition mean the same and can be used interchangeably. While it is true that essay is an essay a type of composition, not all compositions are essays. Let us first look at the meaning of composition. A composition can refer to any creative work, be it a short story, poem, essay, research paper or a piece of music. Therefore, the main difference between essay and composition is that essay is a type of composition whereas composition refers to any creative work .

What is an Essay

An essay is a literary composition that describes, analyzes, and evaluates a certain topic or an issue . It typically contains a combination of facts and figures and personal opinions, ideas of the writer. Essays are a type of commonly used academic writing in the field of education.  In fact, the essay can be introduced as the main type of literary composition written in school level.

An essay typically consists of a brief introduction, a body that consists of supporting paragraphs, and a conclusion. However, the structure, content and the purpose of an essay can depend on the type of the essay. An essay can be classified into various types depending on the given essay title, or the style of the essay writer. Narrative , Descriptive , Argumentative , Expository , Persuasive , etc. are some of these essay types. The content , structure and style of the essay also depend on the nature of the essay. The complexity of the essay also depends on the type of the essay. For example, narrative and descriptive essays can be written even by primary school students whereas argumentative and persuasive essays are usually being written by older students.

What is a Composition

The term composition can refer to any creative work . A composition can be a piece of music, art of literature. For example, Symphony No. 40 in G minor is a composition by Mozart.

The term literary composition can refer a poem, short story, essay, drama , novel or even a research paper. It refers to an original and creative literary work.

Essay is a relatively short piece of writing on a particular topic.

Composition is a creative work.

Interconnection

Essay is a type of composition.

Not all compositions are essays.

Essay can be categorized as narrative, descriptive, persuasive, argumentative, expository, etc.

A composition can be a short story, novel, poem, essay, drama, painting, piece of music, etc.

Prose vs verse

Essay is always written in prose.

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The Difference between an Essay and a Composition

In a few cases, an essay and a composition can mean the same thing. However, your composition for a music class will look much different than your composition for a history class.

What is an Essay?

An essay is an informative piece of writing that includes an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The purpose of an essay is to present a specific point that a writer has chosen to make on a topic and to lay out the reasoning for why the writer reached that conclusion. When the writer has completed their essay, they have in their hands a literary composition. Essays can only be completed using the written word.

What is A Composition?

A composition is any creative work, and creativity does not always come in the form of the written word. Written compositions can be essays, but there are many other forms of writing that fall under the definition of a composition. In fact, all original pieces of writing are defined as written compositions, including all the writing forms that are not essays. Compositions can also include many other forms other than writing, as well.

Essays come in four basic types: expository, persuasive, descriptive, and narrative. Expository essays present facts about a topic, persuasive essays argue a point and try to convince readers to agree on that point, a descriptive essay paints a story using words, and a narrative essay tells a true story from a writer's personal experience. Each type of essay has its own structure to be followed but all should analyze, present, or describe a specific topic.

Compositions come in many forms: plays, short stories, musical scores, art, novels, and poems. Each has their own requirements for structure and allowances for creativity. Any original creative work is a composition, whether it's written, performed, sculpted, or drawn. Both modern American author Stephen King and 16th Century music composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are known for famous compositions like the novel The Stand and the opera The Marriage of Figaro.

While you don't need to be a great writer to publish a composition that will make you famous someday, you won't be able to take any shortcuts on learning an art form and honing it through years of practice. Whether your practice includes a pencil, word processing software, a paintbrush, or a piano, the original and creative results of that practice will all be compositions.

Distinguishing Between Essays & Compositions

Essay vs Composition

Essay and Composition are two words that often seem to be confused due to their similar meanings. However, there is a significant difference between an essay and a composition. An essay is a literary form based on the character of a person or a thing, which can be a descriptive narration of an event, preferably a historical event too. Examples of essays include writings on the imagery in Shakespeare’s works, the spring season, or on becoming a doctor. On the other hand, a composition is any literary piece, including an essay. This is the main difference between essay and composition.

Composition refers to the way in which any given language is used and applied in the creation of a literary piece such as poetry, prose, drama, short story, novel, and free verse, to name a few. Each of the forms mentioned above is a kind of composition, with an essay also being a composition. In other words, it can be said that an essay can be considered a form of literature or literary form, although many critics may not agree with this idea.

A composition is formed by the implementation of rules and regulations needed for the creation of a particular literary form. For example, the composition of poetry requires knowledge of prosody and imagery. Prosody is the knowledge about metrical composition and deals with the study of various meters employed in poetry. Imagery is rhetorical in nature. Similarly, the composition of prose, such as a novel or a short story, requires knowledge about writing in prose style. Knowledge of prosody is not necessary for the composition of prose, but good narration skills are needed. Essays are mostly descriptive in nature, describing any given topic or event in a very descriptive manner.

Key Takeaways

• An essay is a literary form based on the character of a person or a thing, while a composition is any literary piece, including an essay.
• Composition refers to the way in which any given language is used and applied in the creation of a literary piece, such as poetry, prose, drama, short story, novel, and free verse.
• A composition is formed by the implementation of rules and regulations needed for the creation of a particular literary form, while essays are mostly descriptive in nature.

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In this Chapter

What is College Composition?

Why the academic essay.

• Purposes and Goals

Teachers vs. Professors

Students often enter college writing courses expecting an “English” course that requires students to read literary texts, write creatively, and/or complete endless grammar exercises. But First Year Composition (FYC) does not usually focus on these topics.

Rather than focusing on literature or grammar, First Year Composition (FYC) courses introduce students to academic writing. Specifically, they teach students about writing and composing processes at the college level. In FYC courses like EGL 1010, students think critically, use rhetorical knowledge to evaluate sources, and integrate original research into formal argumentative essays.

FYC courses build on the skills and knowledge students already learned from high school writing instruction and/or pre-credit courses in reading and writing. But the work done in this course and the skills you develop over the course of the semester may be different from your previous writing classes.

FYC courses help students to develop the skills necessary to write successful academic essays at the college level. By the end of this course, you will be able to write a complex, research-based argumentative essay that uses appropriate sources from the college library databases.

The academic essay is a genre , or form of writing, specific to academic situations. It is a structured piece of formal writing that presents a central, argumentative idea and supports that idea with clear evidence. Academic essays are shorter than scholarly articles, though they share many of the same features.

Though the academic essay is usually found only in educational settings, the genre of the essay allows students to practice writing and communication skills that transfer to other writing situations outside of the college classroom. The skills you learn to create strong academic essays are the same skills you’ll need to write clear and effective documents for any workplace situation.

Academic essay requires students to demonstrate deep critical thinking skills and mastery of a specific topic.

The goal of most essay assignments in college courses is to measure student learning.Therefore, essays require students to think logically about complex topics and order their thoughts and ideas effectively. When students write essays, they must carefully analyze available evidence and make careful choices about how it can best be used to support an argument. These are all skills students might need for writing and communication tasks in their future careers.

Essays also allow students to demonstrate their mastery of multiple course objectives or competencies in a single assignment:

• Knowledge : the breadth and depth of how much a student has learned about a specific topic or idea
• Critical Thinking : the student’s ability to evaluate sources and synthesize information effectively and accurately
• Logical Thinking:  the student’s ability to logically and coherently organize their thoughts
• Writing Skills: how clearly and effectively a student can communicate information to an audience

The genre of the essay may not be new to you. You were probably asked to write essays in high school and/or pre-college courses. You may have been taught the five-paragraph style of essay and feel relatively confident in your use of it.

The essays you will be required to write for this course and for future courses throughout your college education will share many similarities to your previous essay writing experiences. But the essays required and expected at the college level have a few important differences from the work you completed for high school. This chapter will discuss some of the important differences between your previous experiences and what will be expected of you in college courses.

High School vs. College: An Overview

Before we look at the difference between the writing you might have done in high school and the writing you will do in college, it might be useful to look at the difference between high school and college in general .

Perhaps the most important difference between high school and college writing is that in high school, you probably learned a single essay model that was supposed to be applied to every essay you wrote in any class.

In college, however, there is no one-size-fits-all essay structure that works for every assignment and every course. Instead, you will need to be able to meet the requirements of each course or discipline and use rhetorical understanding to meet the needs of individual writing situations. We will discuss the importance of rhetoric in a later chapter, but first, let’s look at some of the general differences between the situation and context for writing in highs school classes and the writing tasks your college courses will require.

Purpose and Goals

High schools and colleges have different purposes and different goals. Those purposes and goals are important to understand, because they have an impact on classroom experiences and expectation.

High schools are institutions designed to provide compulsory or mandatory education in order to create an educated population. Students are legally required to attend high school until a certain age. Teachers and schools are legally responsible for ensuring that students learn a certain level of information, usually one determined by individual states. Teachers and schools that fail in that goal and purpose can be held accountable by government institutions at the local, state, and even federal levels.

Where high school is required, college is optional. The decision to get a college education is a choice. Most students elect to attend college in order to attain the education and certifications need for their future career.

Colleges and universities have another purpose, however. While post-secondary institutions do exist to educate students, they have another, possibly an even more important role: the discovery and creation of knowledge. Professors in 4-year colleges and universities, especially, have a responsibility to discover new ideas, confirm new hypotheses, and add to their discipline. When you hear about new discoveries and breakthroughs in science, culture, or medicine, it is usually the result of work done by professional scholars working in college and universities.

Your high school teachers were trained in pedagogy, or the art and science of teaching. They usually are required to have a Bachelor’s degree in Education and pass licensing requirements for the state they teach in. They likely have taken multiple upper-division college courses in the specific subject(s) that they teach, or they may have a college degree in that subject. Their job is to make sure students learn the required material, and their responsibility is first and foremost to students and their learning.

Professors in colleges and universities have more education and expertise in their chosen field. They usually do not have degrees in Education and are not always trained in pedagogy. Rather, they are experts in their field. College professors at two-year schools will have at least a Master’s degree, and professors at four-year colleges and universities will usually have a Ph.D., which requires six or more years of school beyond a Bachelor’s degree. They have devoted a large part of their life to difficult, in-depth learning about the discipline they teach, and because of their education they have deep, complex knowledge about it.

Your professors will often have different expectations than high school teachers. Because post-secondary education is optional, your professors will assume that students are in their classes by choice. They will expect students to take an active and engaged role in their own learning. In addition, college professors are not responsible for making sure that students learn. While they have a responsibility to present material clearly and provide support for their students, it is up to the students to take responsibility for their own learning.

Finally, an important part of your professor’s job is to continue their own work as learners. Professors are expected to continue contributing to their field of study as active researchers and writers. Even as they teach their classes, they are often researching new questions in order to write new articles and books.

Because of these factors, your college professors usually will view their students not as customers but as scholars in training . The general differences between high school and college contributes to the specific differences between writing in high school and college.

Writing: High School vs. College

Most high school classes depend upon the genre of the Five-Paragraph Essay. Your high school teachers may have taught you that essay writing has certain rules. You were likely taught to start your essay with a “hook” or “attention-getter” and to create a thesis with three points. You may have also been taught specific rules about how many sentences a paragraph has. High school students are usually expected to follow those rules and are evaluated on how well they met those requirements.

Common “Rules” from High School Writing Courses

• Essays should have five paragraphs.
• Paragraphs are between five and eight sentences long.
• The thesis statement is a single sentence at the end of your first paragraph. It should contain the three points that you’ll discuss in your three body paragraphs.

There is nothing inherently incorrect about these rules, and they probably made essay writing systematic and clear. These rules probably helped you to learn about organization, logic, and structure. These rules also help students do well on the standardized state tests that are required for public school students.

These rules might have served you well on the shorter, less complicated essays required in high school, but college students often quickly realize that the Five-Paragraph essay is too limiting for the longer and more complex assignments required in college.

As we go through the semester, we will build on the ideas the Five-Paragraph essay taught you about organization, logic, and structure, but rather seeing essay writing as a series of rules you must follow, we will learn about how to use the ideas as strategies that are flexible enough to be applied to many writing tasks.

First, let’s take a look at the expectations of college-level writing.

Expectations of College Writing

The work that undergraduate students will do in college classes reflect a higher level of thinking and learning than what was often required in high schools . Because colleges are spaces for discovery and knowledge creation, they train students to participate in these endeavors.

Your professors will want you to do more than repeat facts back to them. No matter the discipline or course, your professors will expect you to think deeply and critically about the subject at hand and to begin developing your own unique ideas and perspectives about the topics. This is why learning to write clear and effective arguments is so important to college success.

Reports vs. Research Essays

In high school or pre-credit courses, most of your writing tasks probably focused on reporting the information.

College-level writing assignments will usually require you to go further. Rather than reporting the facts you learned or discovered, college-level essays require you to insert yourself into the conversation and make original arguments . College-level writing also asks you to make decisions about how to best present the information for the specific context or audience.

There are four basic areas where you can expect differences between the writing you did in high school and the writing you will do in college: Structure, Argument, Research, and Format.

As previously noted, in high school, you likely learned and relied on the Five-Paragraph essay structure, or a similar form with highly specific and strict rules. In college, those basic forms will usually be too simplistic or restrictive to be useful for effective and successful college essays.

College essays may follow the same basic organizational structure (Intro, Body Paragraphs, Conclusion), but each section is more flexible and complex than high school essays.

• Strong arguments don’t require a predetermined set of 3 points. They may need more or less.
• Essays have as many paragraphs as needed.
• Paragraphs are usually between one-third and two-thirds of a page in length and vary depending on the needs of the point being made.
• Introductions are usually one paragraph, but might be longer if the situation requires.
• Thesis statements should be complete and preview the argument, but are not required to include any set number of points.

In high school, you might have been asked to write research reports. You may have also been asked to give an opinion or create a thesis, but often high school thesis statements are little more than a restatement of the facts you learned. In college, simply restating what others have already established will not be enough to count as an argumentative thesis.

College essays also use thesis statements , but they require students to make arguments that present a deniable claim that can be supported by evidence.

• College-level essays must do more than restate or report on facts. Instead, they create, identify, or push toward new ideas.
• Essays must include an argumentative (deniable) claim.
• Arguments must be supported by evidence that is appropriate for the specific discipline.
• Personal anecdotes or narrative is not usually sufficient to support an argument, and often is inappropriate for academic audiences.
• College-level thesis statements should be specific and limited.

In high school you may have used general internet sources, Google Scholar, or other online references. While many internet resources are usable for more basic reports, college writing will often require resources with more authority and complexity. In high school, you may have taken ideas from sources without completely citing them or quoting accurately. Often high school students will lift key words and phrases from a source without completely reading or understanding the source in its entirety.

College essays require research from reputable, academic (library) sources. Because your professors are experts in their field, they will likely know when you’ve misunderstood or misrepresented a source, so reading and analyzing sources completely is an expected part of research.

Guidelines for Research in College Essays

• General internet-based research (Google, Wikipedia) is usually not considered appropriate for college-level research.
• Scholarly sources from the library and library databases are required to adequately support your arguments.
• Sources used must be thoroughly read and understood. It’s expected that the writer has mastered the ideas in the source before using or citing it.
• All evidence must be cited carefully by using whichever citation format is required for the class or discipline. Different courses might require different styles. (APA vs. MLA, for example)

In high school your teachers might not have demanded any specific format, or they might have all used a version of MLA essay formatting. It might have been acceptable to use decorative flourishes and designs.

College essays are usually formatted very simply, without decorative elements. Each discipline and class will have specific formatting guidelines that need to be followed.

Guidelines for Formatting in College

• College essays follow the formatting most appropriate for the discipline. Usually this is MLA or APA.
• Formatting should be clear and readable without extra decorative elements. Colors, large fonts, or decorative fonts are not usually acceptable.

Overall Differences

Reflect on Your Reading

• What experience do you already have with writing essays? With research? What skills are you most comfortable with or confident in? How do you think that you can use those skills in your college classes?
• What information about the differences between high school and college is new to you? How does understanding the difference between these two school environments help you to better understand what your college professors might expect?

References:

Carroll, Lee Ann. Rehearsing New Roles: How College Students Develop as Writers. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2002. Print.

Thaiss, Chris and Terry Zawacki. Engaged Writers & Dynamic Disciplines: Research on the Academic Writing Life. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook, 2006. Print.

For Further Reading:

The Difference Between High School and College Writing

The Transition from High School to University Writing

Remixed from an essay by Lennie Irvin

To the extent possible under law, Lisa Dunick has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to Readings for Writing , except where otherwise noted.

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Differences Between Writing in ESL and Composition Classrooms

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Some of the features of ELL writing that may strike composition instructors and Writing Center tutors as in need of improvement may result directly from students' earlier experiences in ESL courses. In order to help students make the transition from writing for an ESL course and writing for a PWR or other academic course, it can help to understand the differences between writing in ESL and composition classrooms.

WRITING IN ESL COURSES

ESL courses tend to teach a rigidly deductive writing style that is seen by composition instructors as lacking in the sophistication required to succeed at the university level. According to Dwight Atkinson and Vai Ramanthan, the five-paragraph essay taught by ESL courses "acts a symbol of bad student writing—formulaic, stilted, mechanical, predictable" (560).

ESL courses teach the five-paragraph essay, however, to help students in the short rather than long-term. This form is a quickly-learned, easily deployable tool that students can use to meet their immediate academic needs (559). 

Because ESL courses are structured to meet the urgent needs of students in achieving communicative competence of writing, reading, speaking, and listening, they do not usually have the time to focus extensively on the writing process. While many teachers attempt to build in time for drafts, revision, peer review, and reflection, they necessarily cannot devote as much time to the writing process as composition courses do (Craig 3). In addition, peer review guidelines tend to reinforce the rigid deductive style that ESL courses tend to train students in.

Because ESL courses are geared towards language acquisition, writing assessment tends to focus on the mechanics of a student essay rather than the content (Craig 3). In fact, according to Linda Blanton, ESL programs often holds students to a higher standard of "grammatical perfection" than mainstream composition courses (124). As a result of this emphasis, many ESL students will expect instructors in other courses to also focus primarily on mechanics. They might also seek more feedback on grammar and syntax rather than on concerns of organization and argument, etc. (Moussu 56). 

Feedback in composition courses often focuses first on "higher order" concerns of argument and organization. In general, composition instructors are more tolerant of sentence-level errors in writing by non-native English speakers than in writing by native English speakers (Atkinson and Ramanthan 543). 

HELPING STUDENTS MAKE THE TRANSITION BETWEEN ESL WRITING AND ACADEMIC WRITING

Being aware of the differences between writing in ESL and composition courses can help instructors anticipate the challenges ELLs will face and address these challenges.

• Expect sentence-level errors. Grammatical and mechanical errors increase with cognitive difficulty, so you can expect to see a number of sentence-level issues in the writing of English language learners as they first grapple with more challenging writing assignments. The first writing you see from an English language learner might not be the most accurate representation of his/ her language development. In fact, many ESL instructors feel frustrated to see students appear to regress after they leave their ESL courses. These problems, however, can be temporary.
• Be as explicit as possible about expectations. Be aware that the characteristics that we define "good writing" with are culturally defined. Look for points in your course where rely on tacit knowledge. Model essays, particularly student essays, are very useful in making visible your expectations for academic writing.
• Reinforce good writing habits. Research shows that good ELL writers and native-English-speaking writers share the same habits: they dedicate effort to planning and revising. On the other hand, both inexperienced ELLs and NES writers do not dedicate much effort to planning and revising (Braine 3).
• Know that students can successfully make the transition between overly deductive writing and sophisticated academic writing. Instead of focusing on the problems of the rigidly deductive style of some ESL-trained students, Atkinson and Ramanthan advise that composition instructors think of this style as a "take-off point" from which students can learn to write in more rhetorically sophisticated ways (563). 

Atkinson, Dwight and Vai Ramanthan. "Cultures of Writing: An Ethnographic Comparison of L1 and L2 University Writing/ Language Programs." TESOL Quarterly 29.3 (1995): 539-  568.

Blanton, Linda Lonon. "Classroom Instruction and Language Minority Students: On Teaching to 'Smarter' Readers and Writers." Generation 1.5 Meets College Composition : Issues in the Teaching of Writing to U.S.-Educated Learners of ESL. Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1999. 119-142.

Craig, Jennifer Lynn. Integrating Writing Strategies in EFLESL University Contexts : A Writing-Across-the-Curriculum Approach. New York; London: Routledge, 2013.

Matsuda, Paul Kei. "Composition studies and ESL writing: A disciplinary division of labor." College Composition and Communication (1999): 699-721.

Matsuda, Paul Kei; Tanita Saenkhum; and Steven Accardi. "Writing teachers' perceptions of the   presence and needs of second language writers: An Institutional Case Study." Journal of Second Language Writing 22 (2013): 68-86.

Moussu, Lucie. “Let’s Talk! ESL Students’ Needs and Writing Centre Philosophy.” TESL Canada Journal 30.2 (2013): 55-68.

Comparison in Composition

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

In composition , comparison is a  rhetorical strategy and method of organization in which a writer examines similarities and/or differences between two people, places, ideas, or things. Words and phrases that often signal a comparison include similarly, likewise, by comparison, by the same token, in like manner, in the same way , and in a similar fashion .

Comparison (often referred to as comparison and contrast ) is one of the classical rhetorical exercises known as the  progymnasmata .

Comparison/Contrast Essays

• "A Brother of St. Francis," by Grace Rhys
• "The Lowest Animal," by Mark Twain
• "Luxuries," by George Ade
• "Of Youth and Age," by Francis Bacon
• "On the Difference Between Wit and Humor," by Charles S. Brooks
• "Red-Bloods and Mollycoddles," by G. Lowes Dickinson
• "Two Ways of Seeing a River," by Mark Twain
• "Watching Baseball, Playing Softball," by Lubby Juggins

Style Scrapbook

• Comparison in Laurie Lee's "Appetite"
• Comparison in Sarah Vowell's Place Description

From the Latin, "compare."

Examples and Observations

• "A car is useless in New York, essential everywhere else. The same with good manners." (Mignon McLaughlin, The Complete Neurotic's Notebook . Castle Books, 1981)
• "The truth of the matter was, the baby looked very much like a mouse in every way. He was only about two inches high; and he had a mouse's sharp nose, a mouse's tail, a mouse's whiskers, and the pleasant, shy manner of a mouse. Before he was many days old he was not only looking like a mouse but acting like one, too--wearing a gray hat and carrying a small cane." (E.B. White, Stuart Little . Harper, 1945)
• "Must a powerful fairy like myself condescend to explain her doings to you who are no better than an ant by comparison , though you think yourself a great king?" (Andrew Lang, "The Wonderful Sheep." The Blue Fairy Book , 1889)
• establish a clear basis for comparison;
• make a thorough and specific presentation; and
• provide an effective arrangement for the material.
• Comparison and Contrast Essays To gain the most from your use of comparison and contrast , . . . you need to(W.J. Kelly, Strategy and Structure . Allyn and Bacon, 1999)
• Arranging Details in Comparison and Contrast Essays "Ordering detail in a comparison-contrast essay requires some thought. One possible arrangement is the block pattern whereby all the points about one subject are made (in a block) then all the points about the other subject are made (in a second block). . . . "A second possible arrangement for the details of comparison-contrast is the alternating pattern , whereby a point is made for one subject, then for the other. A second point is made for the first subject, then for the other. This alternating pattern continues until all the points are made for both subjects. . . . "In general, the block method works better for essays with fewer points of comparison or contrast that are not extensively developed . . .. "An alternating pattern is usually a better choice for an essay with many points of comparison and contrast or an essay with extensively developed ideas." (Barbara Fine Clouse, Patterns for a Purpose . McGraw-Hill, 2003)
• Complaining vs. Moaning "Visitors to Britain are rarely able to grasp--sometimes after decades of residency--the vital distinction its inhabitants make between complaining and moaning. The two activities seem similar, but there is a profound philosophical and practical difference. To complain about something is to express dissatisfaction to someone whom you hold responsible for an unsatisfactory state of affairs; to moan is to express the same thing to someone other than the person responsible. The British are powerfully embarrassed by complaining, and experience an almost physical recoil from people who do it in public. They do love to moan though. The background music of British life is a running aria of moaning about pretty much everything--our weather, our politics, our permanently under-performing national sports teams, our reality-TV-obsessed media, and so on. Moaning, a source of entertainment in its own right, is also an important psychic comfort blanket, a way of venting resentment without taking responsibility for effecting change." (John Lanchester, "Party Games." The New Yorker , June 7, 2010)
• European Football vs. American Football "Although European football is the parent of American football, the two games show several major differences. European football, sometimes called association football or soccer, is played in more than 80 countries, making it the most widely played sport in the world. American football, on the other hand, is popular only in the United States and Canada. Soccer is played by 11 players with a round ball. Football, also played by 11 players in somewhat different positions on the field, uses an elongated round ball. Soccer has little body contact between players, and therefore requires no special protective equipment. Football, in which players make maximum use of body contact to block a running ball carrier and his teammates, requires special headgear and padding. In soccer, the ball is advanced toward the goal by kicking it or by butting it with the head. In football, on the other hand, the ball is passed from hand to hand across the opponent's goal. These are just a few of the features that distinguish association and American football." (student paragraph, "Football and Soccer")
• A "Sexist Interlude" by Bill Bryson: Women vs. Men at the Checkout Counter "Although the store had only just opened, the food hall was busy and there were long queues at the tills. I took a place in a line behind eight other shoppers. They were all women and they all did the same mystifying thing: They acted surprised when it came time to pay. This is something that has been puzzling me for years. Women will stand there watching their items being rung up, and then when the till lady says, 'That's four pounds twenty, love,' or whatever, they suddenly look as if they've never done this sort of thing before. They go 'Oh!' and start rooting in a flustered fashion in their handbag for their purse or checkbook, as if no one had told them that this might happen. "Men, for all their many shortcomings, like washing large pieces of oily machinery in the kitchen sink or forgetting that a painted door stays wet for more than thirty seconds, are generally pretty good when it comes to paying. They spend their time in line doing a wallet inventory and sorting through their coins. When the till person announces the bill, they immediately hand over an approximately correct amount of money, keep their hands extended for the change however long it takes or however foolish they may begin to look if there is, say, a problem with the till roll, and then--mark this--pocket their change as they walk away instead of deciding that now is the time to search for the car keys and reorganize six months' worth of receipts." (Bill Bryson, Notes From a Small Island . William Morrow, 1995

Pronunciation: kom-PAR-eh-son

Also Known As: comparison and contrast

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• Writing for Success: Compare/Contrast

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

This section will help you determine the purpose and structure of comparison/contrast in writing.

The Purpose of Compare/Contrast in Writing

Comparison in writing discusses elements that are similar, while contrast in writing discusses elements that are different. A compare-and-contrast essay, then, analyzes two subjects by comparing them, contrasting them, or both.

The key to a good compare-and-contrast essay is to choose two or more subjects that connect in a meaningful way. The purpose of conducting the comparison or contrast is not to state the obvious but rather to illuminate subtle differences or unexpected similarities. For example, if you wanted to focus on contrasting two subjects you would not pick apples and oranges; rather, you might choose to compare and contrast two types of oranges or two types of apples to highlight subtle differences. For example, Red Delicious apples are sweet, while Granny Smiths are tart and acidic. Drawing distinctions between elements in a similar category will increase the audience’s understanding of that category, which is the purpose of the compare-and-contrast essay.

Similarly, to focus on comparison, choose two subjects that seem at first to be unrelated. For a comparison essay, you likely would not choose two apples or two oranges because they share so many of the same properties already. Rather, you might try to compare how apples and oranges are quite similar. The more divergent the two subjects initially seem, the more interesting a comparison essay will be.

The Structure of a Compare/Contrast Essay

The compare-and-contrast essay starts with a thesis that clearly states the two subjects that are to be compared, contrasted, or both and the reason for doing so. The thesis could lean more toward comparing, contrasting, or both. Remember, the point of comparing and contrasting is to provide useful knowledge to the reader. Take the following thesis as an example that leans more toward contrasting:

Thesis Statement: Organic vegetables may cost more than those that are conventionally grown, but when put to the test, they are definitely worth every extra penny.

Here the thesis sets up the two subjects to be compared and contrasted (organic versus conventional vegetables), and it makes a claim about the results that might prove useful to the reader.

You may organize compare-and-contrast essays in one of the following two ways:

• According to the subjects themselves, discussing one then the other
• According to individual points, discussing each subject in relation to each point

The organizational structure you choose depends on the nature of the topic, your purpose, and your audience.

Given that compare-and-contrast essays analyze the relationship between two subjects, it is helpful to have some phrases on hand that will cue the reader to such analysis.

Phrases of Comparison and Contrast

Writing an Compare/Contrast Essay

First choose whether you want to compare seemingly disparate subjects, contrast seemingly similar subjects, or compare and contrast subjects. Once you have decided on a topic, introduce it with an engaging opening paragraph. Your thesis should come at the end of the introduction, and it should establish the subjects you will compare, contrast, or both as well as state what can be learned from doing so.

The body of the essay can be organized in one of two ways: by subject or by individual points. The organizing strategy that you choose will depend on, as always, your audience and your purpose. You may also consider your particular approach to the subjects as well as the nature of the subjects themselves; some subjects might better lend themselves to one structure or the other. Make sure to use comparison and contrast phrases to cue the reader to the ways in which you are analyzing the relationship between the subjects.

After you finish analyzing the subjects, write a conclusion that summarizes the main points of the essay and reinforces your thesis.

Compare/Contrast Essay Example

Comparing and Contrasting London and Washington, DC

By Scott McLean in Writing for Success

Both Washington, DC, and London are capital cities of English-speaking countries, and yet they offer vastly different experiences to their residents and visitors. Comparing and contrasting the two cities based on their history, their culture, and their residents show how different and similar the two are.

Both cities are rich in world and national history, though they developed on very different time lines. London, for example, has a history that dates back over two thousand years. It was part of the Roman Empire and known by the similar name, Londinium. It was not only one of the northernmost points of the Roman Empire but also the epicenter of the British Empire where it held significant global influence from the early sixteenth century on through the early twentieth century. Washington, DC, on the other hand, has only formally existed since the late eighteenth century. Though Native Americans inhabited the land several thousand years earlier, and settlers inhabited the land as early as the sixteenth century, the city did not become the capital of the United States until the 1790s. From that point onward to today, however, Washington, DC, has increasingly maintained significant global influence. Even though both cities have different histories, they have both held, and continue to hold, significant social influence in the economic and cultural global spheres.

Both Washington, DC, and London offer a wide array of museums that harbor many of the world’s most prized treasures. While Washington, DC, has the National Gallery of Art and several other Smithsonian galleries, London’s art scene and galleries have a definite edge in this category. From the Tate Modern to the British National Gallery, London’s art ranks among the world’s best. This difference and advantage has much to do with London and Britain’s historical depth compared to that of the United States. London has a much richer past than Washington, DC, and consequently has a lot more material to pull from when arranging its collections. Both cities have thriving theater districts, but again, London wins this comparison, too, both in quantity and quality of theater choices. With regard to other cultural places like restaurants, pubs, and bars, both cities are very comparable. Both have a wide selection of expensive, elegant restaurants as well as a similar amount of global and national chains. While London may be better known for its pubs and taste in beer, DC offers a different bar-going experience. With clubs and pubs that tend to stay open later than their British counterparts, the DC night life tend to be less reserved overall.

Both cities also share and differ in cultural diversity and cost of living. Both cities share a very expensive cost of living—both in terms of housing and shopping. A downtown one-bedroom apartment in DC can easily cost $1,800 per month, and a similar “flat” in London may double that amount. These high costs create socioeconomic disparity among the residents. Although both cities’ residents are predominantly wealthy, both have a significantly large population of poor and homeless. Perhaps the most significant difference between the resident demographics is the racial makeup. Washington, DC, is a “minority majority” city, which means the majority of its citizens are races other than white. In 2009, according to the US Census, 55 percent of DC residents were classified as “Black or African American” and 35 percent of its residents were classified as “white.” London, by contrast, has very few minorities—in 2006, 70 percent of its population was “white,” while only 10 percent was “black.” The racial demographic differences between the cities is drastic.

Even though Washington, DC, and London are major capital cities of English-speaking countries in the Western world, they have many differences along with their similarities. They have vastly different histories, art cultures, and racial demographics, but they remain similar in their cost of living and socioeconomic disparity.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• A compare-and-contrast essay analyzes two subjects by either comparing them, contrasting them, or both.
• The purpose of writing a comparison or contrast essay is not to state the obvious but rather to illuminate subtle differences or unexpected similarities between two subjects.
• The thesis should clearly state the subjects that are to be compared, contrasted, or both, and it should state what is to be learned from doing so.
• There are two main organizing strategies for compare-and-contrast essays.
• Organize by the subjects themselves, one then the other.
• Organize by individual points, in which you discuss each subject in relation to each point.
• Use phrases of comparison or phrases of contrast to signal to readers how exactly the two subjects are being analyzed.
• Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : http://lumenlearning.com/ . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Successful Writing. Provided by : Anonymous. Located at : http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/successful-writing/s14-07-comparison-and-contrast.html . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Comparing and Contrasting London and Washington, DC. Authored by : Scott McLean. Located at : http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/successful-writing/s14-07-comparison-and-contrast.html . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Table of Contents

Instructor Resources (Access Requires Login)

• Overview of Instructor Resources

An Overview of the Writing Process

• Introduction to the Writing Process
• Introduction to Writing
• Your Role as a Learner
• What is an Essay?
• Reading to Write
• Defining the Writing Process
• Videos: Prewriting Techniques
• Thesis Statements
• Organizing an Essay
• Creating Paragraphs
• Conclusions
• Editing and Proofreading
• Matters of Grammar, Mechanics, and Style
• Peer Review Checklist
• Comparative Chart of Writing Strategies

Using Sources

• Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Avoiding Plagiarism
• Formatting the Works Cited Page (MLA)
• Citing Paraphrases and Summaries (APA)
• APA Citation Style, 6th edition: General Style Guidelines

Definition Essay

• Definitional Argument Essay
• How to Write a Definition Essay
• Critical Thinking
• Video: Thesis Explained
• Effective Thesis Statements
• Student Sample: Definition Essay

Narrative Essay

• Introduction to Narrative Essay
• Student Sample: Narrative Essay
• "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell
• "Sixty-nine Cents" by Gary Shteyngart
• Video: The Danger of a Single Story
• How to Write an Annotation
• How to Write a Summary
• Writing for Success: Narration

Illustration/Example Essay

• Introduction to Illustration/Example Essay
• "She's Your Basic L.O.L. in N.A.D" by Perri Klass
• "April & Paris" by David Sedaris
• Writing for Success: Illustration/Example
• Student Sample: Illustration/Example Essay

Compare/Contrast Essay

• Introduction to Compare/Contrast Essay
• "Disability" by Nancy Mairs
• "Friending, Ancient or Otherwise" by Alex Wright
• "A South African Storm" by Allison Howard
• Student Sample: Compare/Contrast Essay

Cause-and-Effect Essay

• Introduction to Cause-and-Effect Essay
• "Cultural Baggage" by Barbara Ehrenreich
• "Women in Science" by K.C. Cole
• Writing for Success: Cause and Effect
• Student Sample: Cause-and-Effect Essay

Argument Essay

• Introduction to Argument Essay
• Rogerian Argument
• "The Case Against Torture," by Alisa Soloman
• "The Case for Torture" by Michael Levin
• How to Write a Summary by Paraphrasing Source Material
• Writing for Success: Argument
• Student Sample: Argument Essay
• Grammar/Mechanics Mini-lessons
• Mini-lesson: Subjects and Verbs, Irregular Verbs, Subject Verb Agreement
• Mini-lesson: Sentence Types
• Mini-lesson: Fragments I
• Mini-lesson: Run-ons and Comma Splices I
• Mini-lesson: Comma Usage
• Mini-lesson: Parallelism
• Mini-lesson: The Apostrophe
• Mini-lesson: Capital Letters
• Grammar Practice - Interactive Quizzes
• De Copia - Demonstration of the Variety of Language
• Style Exercise: Voice