Week 6 Assignment - The Compare & Contrast Essay - “When

are these things like - and not like - the other?”

As the “Old Sarge” would say: “We warned you!!!” Indeed, as mentioned several times, we
like the compare and contrast essay formats, not only for how this exercise can help you
effectively present a well-balanced argument, but for how it will help you write an extremely
effective conclusion to any essay. In this exercise, you will create a well-balanced 250 word
compare and contrast essay.

As usual, we’re going to build this essay step-by-step and in order to help you along this
week, were going to provide you with a couple of ideas for you to use in your own compare
and contrast essay.

Possible topics:
In order to jumpstart your brainstorming process, have a look at the following four potential
topic areas. This week, you can either select one of them, or come up with your own, as long as
you can make a logical compare and contrast essay from that topic. Remember: if you have
personal experience, you need to establish that up front so that your reader is fully aware that
what follows is your own personal experience, and not what may be considered a general or
popularly held view on the subject area.

The topics:
1. Fast food versus home cooked meals
2. Gas powered versus electric automobiles
3. Traditional banking versus online banking
4. K-cups versus ground coffee
5. Other - remember - if you come up with a better brainstorming idea, just make sure
that it is a subject that most readers would understand!

Okay, were going to try something just a little bit different here because we pretty much taken
care of most of the brainstorming, so were going to begin with a basic outline.

In the boxes below, please outline the following steps:

A. Introduction with appropriate hook and thesis statement

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Enter your introductory paragraph below. Remember, it should be no longer than 75 words:

B. List items you will compare and contrast (briefly) and create
subtopics for those items - please do not forget to fill this in!

Compare similar ideas - how are these things alike?

 Topic:
o Subtopic:
o Subtopic:
 Topic:
o Subtopic:
o Subtopic:
 Topic:
o Subtopic:
o Subtopic:

Contrast differences - how are these things different?

 Topic:
o Subtopic:
o Subtopic:

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  Topic:
o Subtopic:
o Subtopic:
 Topic:
o Subtopic:
o Subtopic:

C. Try as best you can to keep each of these next two sections to 50
words apiece. This will force you to be as efficient and economical as
possible with your words.
Compare

Contrast

D. Create an effective conclusion. Your final paragraph should be no

longer than 75 words:

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E. Putting it all together: Now that you have all the pieces, here is
where you will post your final, 250 word compare and contrast essay.

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Did you keep your word counts to the required length in each paragraph? Did you remember
include transitions to bridge among your different ideas? Did you remember to tie your
conclusion back to your introductory paragraph?

Don’t forget to save your work and post it to the course by Sunday at 11:59 PM!

Are you thanking us NOW for giving you ALL of these clues?

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