Writing essays takes a lot of skills and practice. Although there are people who are naturally born essay writers and will most likely be able to write a compare and contrast essay without much trouble, there are also a lot of people who are not really so good at expressing themselves in writing. If you are one of those people who are perennially challenged when it comes to academic writing and you have problems in formulating your ideas and putting them into words, here are some tips for you in writing your compare and contrast essay difficulties.

Identifying The Similarities and Differences Of Your Subject
A compare and contrast essay is a form of academic writing that shows a comparison of two or more subjects. When comparing your subject, you will need to identify and review the points of similarities and differences of the given subjects. You need to write a detailed description of the subjects that you are comparing and point out why they are similar in some aspects and why they are also different in some aspects. For instance, if the subject of your essay is politics and religion, you might want to say that politics and religion are the same in the sense that they both involve structures and rules. On the other hand, when contrasting the two subjects of your essay, you might want to say that where religion revolves around the teachings of moral values, politics is more concerned with societal structures and policies.

Stating Your Thesis
Since you are writing an academic paper, you will need to clearly state your thesis. Make sure that you clearly indicate your subject and what will be the focus of your discussion. Always remember that a clear and concise thesis is very important when you are writing an academic paper. Note that your discussion will revolve around your thesis. If your thesis is not clearly stated, your essay will also appear to be incoherent and your arguments will not really be that persuasive.
When discussing your subject in your compare and contrast essay, you may adopt either the subject by subject approach or the point by point approach. In the subject by subject approach you need to write first about one subject and discuss this subject fully. Address each subject in your essay in separate paragraphs. For the next subject of your essay, follow the same pattern of discussion as the first. For instance, if you are comparing in your essay the seasons of the year and you start with summer, you may describe summer in terms of temperature, color and the activities that people do during this time of the year. In the next section of your essay when you describe winter, you will need to follow the same pattern that you used in describing summer. In your compare and contrast essay, you will need to describe winter in terms of temperature, color and the activities that people do during this time of the year. Always remember that in academic writing, sharp focus on the topic of your essay is a must.