Compare and Contrast Essay Topics

Compare and contrast essay topics are topics that compare two seemingly unrelated ideas or subjects together in a spectrum of opposite ends. These essays in particular, are able to bring out the creativity of students by choosing topics from everyday items to comparing and contrasting them with something that is not even an item, or possibly something that doesn't even exist. However, as long as there is a remote link between the two, this will be material to create a great compare and contrast essay.

The level of depth greatly differs between the marking harshness of different year groups. As a result, different topics are suitable for different year groups as separated below. Choosing the right topic may sound difficult, but it is actually very easy. Ideas can come from everywhere, but below I will list great ideas to get your brain started.

There are steps that should be followed when writing a comparison essay. The smartest thing to do, after having chosen a topic to write your compare and contrast essay, is to make 2 lists for you to write down as many similar and different things you can think of between the 2 items for the contrasting topic you have chosen.

Essays at college level require a higher standard, and therefore topics that a more vague would score higher because it shows your ability to think outside the box to truly capture the essence of comparing and contrasting the two ideas

1. A church and nightclub
2. Paper from trees vs human life
3. Original vs remakes
4. Being fired vs resigning
5. Bully vs bullied
6. Art vs graffiti
7. Happiness and anger
8. Rural vs urban
9. Role model vs Celebrity
10. Money vs Food

Finding similarities and distinctions between the two items in your essay may be difficult at first and you might feel like you are consuming a great amount of time going nowhere, but once you have finished that step, you have pretty much finished the compare and contrast essay itself.

Compare and contrast essays for 5th grade won't be expected to be as well thought out as college level essays, but should still be deep to show the student has put in effort to come up with quality comparisons. Here is a list of top 10 topics for essays for a 5th grade level.

1. A best friends vs a pet
2. Falling in love vs learning to swim
3. Falling in love vs a battlefield
4. Feeling hot in cold water
5. MTV vs real life drama
6. Birthday vs funeral
7. Dog vs Dinosaur
8. Lion vs father
9. Milk vs tree sap
10. Airplane vs submarine

Sometimes you may have to explain the link because the two items are so different. But once you manage to successfully identify and compare the the items, especially if it is vague, it will make your essay much stronger in the eyes of the reader or the essay marker. Contrasting the topic would be a much easier task by simply discussing the opposite and differences of each item.

For a 4th grade level, marking these essays would not be as harsh as essays such as in college and university level. Therefore, the topics themselves are generally more connected and require less thought and arguments. Here is a list of the top 10 compare and contrast essay topics for 4th grade students.

1. Sun vs Moon
2. Soccer vs football
3. Hip Hop vs Jazz
4. Money Vs Happiness
5. Smart vs ignorance
6. Swimming vs airplane
7. Hands vs running
8. Gold vs Silver
9. Sky vs Ocean
10. Sharp vs Teeth