How to Write a Compare and Contrast Essay for Ethics Course

Probably lots of students regularly ask themselves on how to meet the deadline of the essay. Such a question emerges once they put assignments for later and in most times, it is always like that. Then at the last-minute, there is a hustle and bustle and lots of stress. What to do if a student still has a little time to write an essay? Let’s see the strategies and tips on its writing, and learn how to choose the topic that can impress even the strictest professor.

What Is Compare & Contrast Essay in Ethics?

To write such an outstanding essay, a student needs to start by identifying two main subjects that comprise enough common features and differences that will allow him to compare and contrast. The examples are two Literature Genres or two Fields of Medicine. Then it is important to find at least two or three points by which they can be compared and contrasted using research, facts and well-formed paragraphs that will contribute to attracting readers’ attention. Writing a compare and contrast essay is actually an important skill that will come in handy more than once in any one academic career. So, choosing an interesting topic is half the way of mastering all types of papers. What about Ethics?

Let’s figure out what this field is for. Ethics is a science that studies the rules of behavior. It examines not only the ones that are predicted by etiquette but rules on which relationships between people are based. They dictate people’s daily behavior, help them live in the community, without interfering with or harming one another. Such rules are called morality. So ethics is the science of morality.

Based on that a student can imagine the perspectives of possible topics. But such a topic can be also considered a risky one especially today. All writers and students should carefully choose the subjects avoiding such topic as Religion from an Ethical Point of View. Because, the similarities and differences, in this case, do not matter much. A person can only hurt someone’s feelings or provoke a conflict that may lead to irreconcilable differences or even injuries. And the next topic that students had better pass by is nonstandard sexual orientation behavior. By no means, this topic is forbidden one to speak of or write about. The problem is that some people just want to write something interesting and provoking only to receive attention. But others may again feel disrespected and humble. So, comparing and contrasting these two themes a student has to leave for people who really know how to speak of it from the right point of view. Let’s see the proper examples of Ethics essay and define what is necessary to mention in them.

Noteworthy Topics for Ethics Essays

Moral rules are a manifestation of the spiritual world of man. The spiritual world is everything related to the human soul – feelings, thoughts, desires, aspirations, interests. So, the number of possible topics can already be twice increased. There is no need to compare and contrast such obvious facts as the Ethics of Neanderthal man with Ethics of Modern People. Of course, the first people adjusted to those times when there was no television, no books, and even no proper language except some sounds. Those men’s behavior was predetermined by instincts. And of course, modern people can boast knowledge of Ethics. Thus, it means that such an essay will be either too obvious or too boring that a student even dared to waste a paper or his time. Check the next examples of a good choice.

• Codes of Ethics. It is a perfect subject for conducting research. Here a student can compare his future profession with the one related to another industry. For example, the essay Physician’s Code vs Code of Ethics of Educator. A student can write about the Hippocratic oath and rules of employment to the school or university. Mention the rules of behavior of both workers and find out the risks connected with those professions that can lead to the changes in the inner world of a person and his performance.
• Personality Development. This topic can involve subjects such as Personality Development in Children with Family and in Orphans, and so on. It is a challenging subject to compare and contrast but if a psychology student managed even to conduct a survey on it, he would be rewarded with a good grade and boosted self-esteem due to its complexity. Here, he can compare and contrast such aspects as school education vs orphanage, the dreams of kids from rich families and kids who have never had a single relative, etc.
• Style of Leadership. It can be both referred to people or different establishments. For example, we can compare and contrast the Style of Leadership in Big Corporations vs Small Businesses. It is important to mention in an essay that small businesses have the potential to become a big corporation by introducing the same style as in big companies, or that depending on the leader a company may go flop or increase the profit, etc. Such comparisons and differences are suitable for students who study in universities of Economics and Trade or marketing and political science faculties.
• Ethics in Show Business. It is an interesting topic, especially for future journalists. A student may again compare and contrast the Ethics of Celebrities during European Festivals and during American ones. Why these two parts of the world? In recent times, those continents showed massive changes in youngsters’ behavior and some of those changes still radically influence the different generations. Moreover, it is possible to write about the etiquette of actresses and for example political persons.

These are just examples of possible topics for a student’s essay but if you need more info or example of compare and contrast essays in Ethics, some universities made them available for all the users of the Internet. Check them and pick up the topic that can make a professor reread it a few times thanks to an informative context. Let’s move on to the requirements of essay composition.

The Requirements for Ethics Essay Composition

Once a topic is chosen, it is time to make a structure of the essay. As far as there are two organizations of such composition, block, and point-by-point that you can see below, an essay requires a proper frame of the body.

The essay usually amounts to 5-15 pages, in rare cases up to 20 and in some 3-5. The standard compare and contrast essay traditionally consists of several parts:

• thesis;
• introduction;
• main body;
• conclusion;
• list of used literature or references (if required).

Thesis and introduction. It consists of one paragraph or can occupy half of the page. Its main goal is to introduce the reader to the essence of the problem. A student should explain why for example Codes of Ethics in Doctors vs Educators should be compared and contrasted. The introduction part justifies the choice of a particular ethical topic, tells why it is important and deals with its relevance. Then a student should outline the goals and objectives of the work. If needed, he gives a brief overview of the references. If it was not possible to write an introduction initially, it can be done after writing a conclusion, when all thoughts are systematized.

Main body. Before a student starts writing the main body of the essay, it is better to decide on the names of paragraphs. Then, build such a chain or paint the structure in a row so as not to disrupt the sequence of thoughts and not to deviate from an ethical topic. Highlight the main aspects as much as possible. Make sure to always refer to the author or source from where you took the quotes or material, this is an indicator of scientific “knowledge”. Then depending on the organization of the structure whether it is block one or point-by-point, try to compare and contrast the subjects. Beware of the accuracy of the data and main points.

Conclusion. What should be written here? It is a summary of general conclusions on the main topic and comparison along with differences. Also, it is a proper time to write a personal opinion on the problem and its solution.

Bibliography (if required). It is a compilation of sources used in essays if there are. In other words, the information by which a reader or professor can find a specific book or online source. The list is compiled in alphabetical order on the last page of the essay.

The Common Mistakes in Compare and Contrast Essay

The first mistake that is striking is the incorrect drafting of the thesis. As was said before it should explain the reason for writing the essay exactly on this topic. Check the example.

× Codes of Ethics of Doctors and Teachers are different but both professions have something in common that is worth writing about.
✓ Code of Ethics of Doctors and Teachers has similarities in history and origin, but when it comes to a particular set of rules these both professionals are trained to react differently, once a doctor needs to stay emotionless, a teacher strives for compassion.

So, in the correct chosen thesis, a student shows the similarity and difference that will be written about in an essay.

The next mistake is bad proofreading. It is not enough to read an essay a few times, use online websites where you can check the spelling or grammar for example. Or give it to your family member or friend. Besides, there are well-tried strategies to proofread like a pro. Follow the next structure:

1. If you wrote an essay in advance, give it some rest. Yes, for example after finishing it, open it only after 1-2 days. The mind will be free of thought and the chance to come across the mistake is double high.
2. Check step by step. It means that during the first time reading dedicate time only to structure, the second for spelling mistakes, the third one for grammar.
3. Double words. It is a very common mistake to leave 2 the or 2 a articles. Pay attention to this while rereading the text.
4. Compared but is not contrasted. The compare and contrast essay means that both aspects should be presented in the essay. And if two objects have only similarities or mostly them, it is not a suitable topic for the essay. Everything should be balanced. So, check if they are equal or at least the number of them does not differ radically.
5. Read aloud. It really works if you read your text aloud. But do not shout as much as possible, it should be a moderate shouting along with concentration on the essay.

Also, there is one exercise that can be applied while writing compare and contrast essays. Try it.

Assign each paragraph with one letter, S, M, L. S means 50-150 words, M – less than 200 words, L – 200 and more. The correct essay will look like this – MSMLMS.

And, at last please pay attention to the vocabulary used in the essay. It is a common mistake when a student chose the wrong word for context over the primary and correct one. And try to read some books or materials related to Ethics discipline to come across topical vocabulary.