A comparative essay is one where you compare a minimum of two items. You may be asked to compare two or more:
When writing your comparative essay you will have to present a valid argument with supporting evidence and then finish the final paper with a conclusion that wraps up your aforementioned arguments in a sound and cohesive way. It should not just repeat the information in your introduction but instead it should summarize the arguments you made AND the evidence you presented in the body.
Consider the conclusion below. It is taken from the end of a literature review. Even though you did not read the entire essay you can easily pick up on the main arguments which were presented in the comparison essay. You can see the arguments and the supporting evidence that the author provided to the reader and very quickly learn that the focus of the paper was themes in short stories:
Each of the characters wants to be happy, whether that means taking a new job, expressing their love for another, or getting out of an oppressive marriage and mundane daily chores. In spite of this desire, each of the characters relent, indicative of how painful entrapment can be and how it weakens the spirit until it eventually dies. The impulse to be happy defines the characters, as does their inability to begin the steps needed to escape and be happy. The two short stories both speak of a type of prison which is formed by human emotions and the search for freedom in all things. “Araby” focuses on the desire to enjoy love and happiness through breaking free of repetition and the mundane tasks of life. By experiencing new things can people truly be happy. Steinbeck focuses on how unhappy his characters are when they are repressed in their talents, intelligence, and sexuality. The characters are repressed examples of the whole society, members of which lie in unhappiness yet are unwilling to take the steps necessary to change their situation. While Steinbeck focuses on sexual freedom through fulfilment and gender freedom through equality, Joyce focuses on how mundane life or one without freedom and passion, will eventually trap people and in turn force them to continually long to escape.
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