Compare and Contrast

It is a common practice to write compare and contrast essays.  

Imagine that you have decided to go to a movie with your family. Quite a few movies have been released that weekend. You read the reviews of those movies to decide which one to go for, and you have ended up with two movies that have made it into your final list. In such a situation, there is a high possibility that one movie will be slightly better than the other in some aspects like one movie might have a more established ensemble cast, a famous director and slightly better reviews. One thing we can do in such a situation before going out with our parents so that we can make the most out of the day out would be to compare and contrast the features of both movies. 

When we compare two things, we list down or describe the similarities they share in common. 

In an opposite way, while contrasting, we write down the differences between the two entities. 

Therefore, a compare and contrast essay is the one where we write the similarities and the differences between two things. They can be an inanimate object, an abstract idea, or any living beings like animals, human being, etc. 

Some important points to keep in mind while writing a compare and contrast essay are: 

• Our points should be explained with as many details to support the point we intend to make so that they stand out. 
•  The contrasting points should be based on the same criteria, like; 

Marvel makes movies that are very colorful and funny, but DC mostly makes very dark and serious movies. 

Here, the tone of the movie is the criteria based on which the movies are contrasted. 

• To maintain a flow in the essays, we can use linking words like similarly, in common, like, as well as, etc., to compare, and on the other hand, however, although, even though, etc., to contrast. 

Given below is a sample of a compare and contrast essay: 

Marvel and DC comics are two of the most popular superhero comic universes in the world. Marvel was founded by Martin Goodman and DC was founded by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson.  

Marvel created the super-hero team called the Avengers, which consists of all their superheroes like Iron-man, Spiderman, Captain America, Thor, etc. Similarly, DC’s super-hero team is called the Justice League consisting of their super-heroes like Batman, Superman, Flash, etc. Both the universes highlight similar issues like self-sacrifice, poverty, good vs evil, etc., through their movies. They equally believe that to save the universe, both the male and female heroes are equally important and should fight shoulder to shoulder. 

But when it comes to the movies both Marvel and DC make, there are quite a few differences. While Marvel is known for making funny movies that are colorful, DC prefers making dark and violent movies. The villain character Joker that DC has created has a huge following. However, apart from Thanos, not many villains in Marvel have been able to create much impact. 

To conclude, no matter how different both the universes are, they still manage to entertain the movie-watching public and keep influencing kids.