The compare and contrast essay.
A compare and contrast essay is more than a list of likenesses and differences. The best ones use the comparison to make a point. Study Butler helps your kid organize the two subjects and then answer the question that matters: so what?
Here is what that looks like.
Study Butler will not print the answer. It points at the next step and lets your kid take it.
An example. The butler answers the question with a question.
i'm comparing two books but it's just a list of differences.
a list is a start. but why does the comparison matter. what does putting them side by side reveal.
that they handle the same theme really differently?
now that is a thesis. build the comparison to prove it.
Where students get stuck.
The same few mistakes come up again and again. Here is where the butler slows things down.
01Listing without a point
Similarities and differences are raw material, not the essay itself. Study Butler asks what the comparison actually reveals.
02Covering one subject then the other with no link
Block organization can read as two separate essays. The butler has your kid connect the two as they go.
03Forgetting the so-what
A comparison needs a reason to exist. Study Butler keeps your kid pointed at why it matters.
Bring the problem they're stuck on.
Type it, say it, or snap a photo. Study Butler walks your kid to the answer one question at a time, so they learn it instead of copying it.
Create a free accountQuestions parents ask.
How do you organize a compare and contrast essay?
What makes a strong compare and contrast thesis?
Keep going.
More on reading & writing, taught the same way. Or see every reading & writing topic.