Compare-Contrast Thesis Statements

Compare-contrast thesis statements are in some ways easier to construct than narrative thesis statements.     These statements are often single, condensed statements of the key similarities and differences between the two (or more) things being discussed.   They should outline the kinds of similarities the things share, and what kinds of differences separate them. 

The films Saving Private Ryan and Miracle at St. Anna both explore war-related themes, but they take very different approaches to doing so and come to very different conclusions. 

While Coppin State University and Morgan State University are both Historically Black Colleges that are part of the University of Maryland public university system, the institutional philosophies that govern each school and the challenges that they face are quite distinct. 

The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers compete nearly every year for first-place in the AFC North division of the National Football League; these teams, however, are very different in their offensive style, their defensive strategies, and the way they relate to their fans. 

While Dr. Stoney Sussan of Johns Hopkins recommends an aggressive radiological approach to dealing with blood-borne diseases, his colleague, Nando Casalena of the University of Maryland, suggests that these disorders can be cured through a regimen of medication applied over time. 

In these examples, the similarities between ideas are either explicitly stated or implied.  Then the differences selected for contrast are identified. 

[The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers compete nearly every year for first-place in the AFC North division of the National Football League]; [these teams, however are very different in their offensive style, their defensive strategies, and the way they relate to their fans]. 

The blue bracketed text above indicates what draws the two ideas—the Ravens and Steelers—together, and identifies what makes the comparison logically possible or even necessary.  Both of the topics under discussion are teams in the AFC North of the NFL—this is what they share, what makes them alike in some way, which draws readers’ attention to the need for or benefit from looking at them in comparison. 

The red text above outlines, in general, the things that make the two teams different.  The essay will then develop how the teams are different in three main areas: “offensive style,” “defensive strategies,” and “way they relate to their fans.”   Subsequent paragraphs would discuss that Pittsburgh, for example, depends on long passes and giving their quarterback a long time to throw the ball, while Baltimore prefers a strong offensive line to run the ball effectively.  

Sometimes, however, the similarities of the topics you are discussing can be implied logically (not explicitly stated, but made clear from the structure of your thesis).  This makes your reader work a bit more to see the similarities:

While Dr. Stoney Sussan of Johns Hopkins recommends an aggressive radiological approach to dealing with blood-borne diseases, his colleague, Nando Casalena of the University of Maryland, suggests that these disorders can be cured through a regimen of medication applied over time. 

Dr. Sussan and Dr. Casalena are, obviously, both doctors, and both work curing blood-borne diseases—this isn’t stated directly, but the reader is forced to assume this. The blue text above draws our attention to the things the subjects have in common (doctors, blood-borne diseases).  The differences are a bit more spelled out. The red text in the passage above describes that that they have different approaches to treating the same set of illnesses. 

As a starting point to help you with creating compare-contrast thesis statements, you might want to start by using one of the templates below:

While [Thing 1] and [Thing 2] are both [key similarity], they are different in [key difference 1], [key difference 2], [key difference 3].  

While [Person 1] argues in [Text A] that [perspective of Person 1 in Text A], [Person 2] suggests in [Text B] that [perspective of Person 2 in Text B].  

Although many think that [Thing 1] and [Thing 2] are the essentially the same thing, they are different in [way 1], [way 2], and [way 3].