Sample Outline

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Comparison/Contrast Essay Outline

I.                  INTRODUCTION

A.    BACKGROUND INFO: Name your two subjects.

B.     THESIS: State your purpose (to persuade or inform); if you are merely informing, declaring that intent is your thesis. If you are persuading (passing judgment), then you can have a limited thesis or a full thesis. A limited thesis declares your intent to persuade, but doesn't give away your opinion yet; that is saved for the Conclusion. A full thesis goes ahead and gives your opinion as to which subject is superior. Usually, a limited thesis at this point will help you to remain unbiased in the descriptive Main Body.

C.     PREVIEW: List your standards of comparison.

Classification

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By the time you are working within this section of the course, you have probably completed assignments in at least one or possibly two "modes," though you may not have thought of them as that. So before going further, it is appropriate to discuss these "modes" and what they are.

Comparison-Cotrast

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Definition of Comparison/Contrast

To use the comparison-contrast mode, you either compare something to another thing which is similar to it, or you contrast it to a thing different from it; or often, you do some of each.

As with the other modes, the basic reason for doing either of these or both is to learn more about a topic.

Conjunction

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Conjunction may be used to indicate the relationship between the ideas expressed in a clause and the ideas expressed in the rest of a sentence. The conjunctions in the following examples are printed in bold type.

e.g.       We could go to the library, or we could go to the park.

He neither finished his homework nor studied for the test.

I went out because the sun was shining.

Punctuation

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Spacing with Punctuation

1.      With a computer, use only one space following periods, commas, semicolons, colons, exclamation points, question marks, and quotation marks. The space needed after these punctuation marks is proportioned automatically. With some typewriters and word processors, follow ending punctuation with two spaces when using a fixed-pitch font.

2.      Use no space on either side of a hyphen

Example :

We borrowed twenty-three sheets of paper