Compare Contrast Topics: List of Compare and Contrast Essay Topics

Before beginning my compare and contrast essay topics, let us spend some time on writing and what it entails. Writing can be of many types, academic writing, journalistic writing, letter writing, essay writing, creative writing, and fiction writing. All these types require different writing skills and the writing tips also differ for each of them, individually. Writing skills can be acquired, if you are not already born with them, and hence there is no need to fear writing of any kind.

Coming to our original topic, that is around essay writing, here's a small list of steps to write an essay.

• Choose a Topic - Choosing an essay topic, like compare contrast essay topics, persuasive essay topics, etc. can give you a better idea of what the essay content should contain.
• Brainstorm - Brainstorming on the essay content and the essay body will make researching about it easier, since you will know exactly what to look for.
• Research and Analysis - This step involves gathering all possible information on your essay topic. All the irrelevant and unnecessary information can be ignored, while writing the body of the essay.
• Thesis Preparation - This is where all the information gathered is put through the sieve of relevancy. All the important ideas are highlighted, so that they are surely covered in the essay.
• Essay Outline - This is where a rough structural formatting of the essay is done by the writer. This is the ready-for-implementation plan.
• Write the Essay - Here, the actual essay gets written, using the information gathered. It is written in the format that is decided in the previous step, containing a proper introduction, body paragraphs and a conclusion.
• Citation and References - These are necessary before any essay ends. Proper credit must be given to the information sources, in this section.

Comparative essays have a different structure altogether. There are two distinct styles to format a compare contrast essay and they are as follows:

Format 1:

• Introduction with quotation or anecdotes that lead on to the thesis statement.
• Exhaustive details of the first topic are given in this section, which can go on for a few paragraphs. Nothing is said mentioning the second topic in this section.
• Comprehensive details of topic 2 are given here, which may extend to a few paragraphs. No mention is made of the first topic.
• A few paragraphs here, will finally mention the comparisons and contrasts between both the topics one and two.
• A good conclusion will reaffirm the thesis stated in the introduction.

Format 2:

• An introduction should start the essay, giving a briefing of all that it entails.
• A few paragraphs here will contain all the comparisons between both the topics involved.
• A few paragraphs here will contain all the contrasts between the two topics.
• The conclusion will contain a summary of everything highlighted in the essay.

Now that we are finished with the two writing styles of comparative essays, let us have a look at some compare and contrast topics for essays.

Frivolous Essay Topics

• Halloween Night and Prom Night
• Your Best Friend vs. Your Arch-enemy
• Vogue Magazine and Elle Magazine
• Music and Books
• Celebrity Influence vs. Parental Influence
• Watching Movies at Theaters vs. Watching Movies at Home
• Rap Music vs. Pop Music
• Soul Music vs. Country Music
• Daily Soap TV Shows vs. Reality Shows or Reality TV
• Comparing Tarzan with Mowgli
• Bullies vs. Dictators

People and Personalities, Compare...

• Adolf Hitler with Joseph Stalin
• Abraham Lincoln with Thomas Jefferson
• Joseph Stalin with Napoleon Bonaparte
• William Shakespeare with William Wordsworth
• Paris Hilton with Lindsay Lohan
• Sherlok Holmes with Watson
• Beyonce Knowles with Rihanna
• Karl Marx with Max Webber
• Cleopatra with Octavia

Wars, Revolution and Governments

• Comparing the Current Russia with the Former USSR
• Communism vs. Democracy
• Nazism vs. Fascism
• Republican Ideals vs. Democratic Ideals
• Comparing the Two World War Sides, Allies and Axis
• Democracy vs. Dictatorship
• Comparing the Iraq War with the Vietnam War
• The World War I and the World War II

Time Periods and Eras

• The 18th Century vs. the 21st Century
• The Pop Culture in the 1960s and the Pop Culture in the 1990s
• Life in the Past vs. Life in the Future
• The Neanderthal Man vs. the 21st Century Man
• Women 100 years ago and Women Today
• The Writings of Confucius and the Hammurabi's Code of Laws

Science and Technology, Compare...

• Windows vs. Linux
• Hurricanes and Blizzards
• Inventions vs. Discoveries
• Facebook vs. Twitter
• Kindle vs. Nook
• Snowfall and Rainfall
• Creationism vs. Evolutionism
• SRAM vs. DRAM (Static Random Access Memory vs. Dynamic Random Access Memory)
• Mitosis vs. Meiosis
• Nuclear Fusion and Nuclear Fission

Flora and Fauna

• Compare Cultivated Flowers with Non-Cultivated Weeds
• Pet Dogs vs. Pet Cats
• African Elephant and the Asiatic Elephant
• African Lions and the Asian Tigers
• The Australian Flora and Fauna vs. the African Flora and Fauna
• Comparing Fruits with Vegetables
• Evergreen Forests vs. Coniferous Forests

Geography and Topography

• Comparing Volcanoes with Earthquakes
• The African Continent vs. the American Continent
• The Mediterranean Weather vs. the Sub Tropical Climate
• Pollution in the United States vs. Pollution in China
• Compare Germany with America
• Comparing Europe with Africa

Religion and Faith, Compare...

• Spirit Worship vs. Idol Worship
• The Bible and the Quran
• The Bhagwad Gita and the Quran
• Hinduism vs. Islam Religion
• Christianity vs. Judaism
• Comparing Paganism with the Wiccan Faith
• Buddha and Jesus Christ
• The Gospel of Matthew vs. the Gospel of Luke
• Islam vs. Christianity

Sports and Adventure

• The Nascar vs. the Formula One
• Venus Williams vs. Serena Williams
• Microsoft Zune and Apple iPod
• Yahoo Search Engine vs. Google Search Engine
• Cricket and Soccer
• Baseball and Rugby

Human Interest and Miscellaneous Topics

• Fox News vs. CNN News
• Country Living vs. City Living
• Physical Beauty vs. Inner Beauty
• Natural Beauty vs. Cosmetic Beauty
• Being Rich vs. Being Famous
• Online Classes vs. Traditional Classes
• Reading Ebooks vs. Reading Books
• A Good Boss and a Bad Boss
• Hostel Living vs. Home Living
• Compare Disparity with Discrimination
• Reservation Quota vs. Equal Opportunity
• Comparing Harry Potter with Lord of the Rings
• Romeo and Juliet with Much Ado About Nothing
• Pride and Prejudice with Sense and Sensibility
• Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer
• Compare Friends with Charmed
• Tragedy vs. Comedy
• Cinderella and Snow White
• Compare Ford Motor Company with Chevrolet
• Poetry vs. Prose
• Victorian Culture vs. Gothic Culture
• Fear and Confusion
• Beowulf and Odysseus
• Catholic Schools vs. Public Schools
• Being an Employee vs. Being Self-Employed
• Church Sermons vs. Campaign Speeches
• Acting vs. Lying
• College Life vs. High School Life
• Classical Economics vs. Keynesian Economics
• Perception and Sensation

Health and Fitness

• Bulimia Nervosa vs. Anorexia Nervosa
• Yoga vs. Aerobic Exercises
• Low Fat Diet vs. Low Carb Diet
• Acupuncture vs. Acupressure
• Allopathy vs. Homeopathy
• Condoms vs. Birth Control Pills
• Dyslexia and Dementia
• Herbal Medicine vs. Allopathic Medicine
• Comparing High Fiber Diet with High Protein Diet
• Dyslexia vs. Learning Disabilities
• Cosmetic Surgery vs. Liposuction

There are many more topic ideas for compare and contrast essays, but I will end my article here. You can always construct your own compare and contrast essay topics, using two places that you have visited, two car models that you like, two athletes that you cannot choose between, compare and contrast two things or just compare and contrast two people. All you need is some creativity and some good analytical skills, and there is nothing that you cannot compare and contrast. Good luck with your endeavor.