WRITING A COMPARE/CONTRAST ESSAY

The following is a suggestion of how to organize your essay.  It is intended to help you write your essay and to help the reader by highlighting the important points of your comparison in a logical fashion.  I believe it is most effective to begin with the earlier piece, analyze it, then give an analysis of the second piece while comparing it to the first.  This avoids some of the redundancies and awkwardness found in compare/contrast essays.  If this approach does not fit your writing style, you are free to organize your essay as you like, but be sure that your argument is obvious, comprehensible, and easy to follow. 

First paragraph (formal analysis):  give a formal analysis (a written description of a visual object) of the earlier piece. introduce your topic.

Second paragraph (historical significance):  explain the historical or sociological significance of the first work.  All works of art reveal something about the historical moment and situation in which it was made, either intentionally or by inference.

Third paragraph (iconographic analysis):  describe the symbolic meanings of the first work. 

Fourth paragraph:  give a formal analysis of the second piece while highlighting the differences between the first and the second pieces.

Fifth paragraph:  explain the historical or sociological significance of the second work while highlighting the differences between the first and the second pieces. 

Sixth paragraph:  explain the symbolic meanings of the second work while highlighting the differences between the first and the second pieces. 

Seventh paragraph:  conclude the essay and explain the importance of the comparison.