Forty Writing Topics: Comparison & Contrast

To write an effective comparison and contrast, keep in mind that your subjects should be logically comparable and your composition should have a clear purpose. See these examples of comparison and contrast at work in paragraphs and essays:

• Comparison in Laurie Lee's "Appetite"
• Comparison in Sarah Vowell's Place Description
• Jean Shepherd's Use of Contrast and Hyperbole
• Metaphors and Comparisons in Porter's "The Necessary Enemy"
• Student Essay: "Watching Baseball, Playing Softball"
• "Margaret Fuller and Mary Wollstonecraft," by George Eliot
• "Laughter," by Joseph Addison
• "Two Ways of Seeing a River," by Mark Twain

Forty Topic Suggestions: Comparison and Contrast

The 40 topic suggestions listed here are offered as starting points to help you discover some fresh ideas on your own.

1. Two stages of a person's life
2. Two places you have visited
3. Two perspectives on the same place: past and present
4. Two perspectives on the same place: morning and night
5. Two fast-food restaurants
6. An online class compared to a traditional class
7. The Toyota Camry hybrid and the Camry sedan
8. Two candidates competing for public office
9. Two pets in the same household
10. The rules set for you as a child and the rules you have set (or plan to set) for your own children
11. Two professional athletes
12. Two views of your parents: before and after you left home
13. Your experiences before and after giving up a bad habit
14. Two neighborhoods
15. Two vampires
16. Two ways to break a bad habit
17. A real vacation and a dream vacation
18. Two hosts of late-night talk shows
19. A good boss and a bad boss
20. Bulimia and anorexia
21. Two video games
22. Two classes in the same subject: one in high school and the other in college
23. The car you own and the car you dream of owning
24. Two types of exercise
25. Two ways of studying for an exam
26. Two sports fans
27. Two ways of losing weight: one healthy, the other dangerous
28. Microsoft’s Zune and Apple's iPod
29. Your family home and the house of your dreams
30. Harry Potter--on the page and on the screen
31. Two memorable teachers or professors
32. Two workplaces
33. Two coffee shops
34. Infatuation versus love
35. Two close friends
36. Living on campus and living off campus
37. A starting pitcher and a reliever
38. Two ways of downloading music or movies
39. Two versions of the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers
40. An active student and a passive student

Also see: 400 Writing Topics