Writing Compare/Contrast Papers
This genre is a popular one in Political Science classes because professors want to see that students
understand how different ideas, authors, or concepts interact. However, these can be challenging
papers to write; many students end up summarizing concepts without truly comparing them. While
concise, analytic summary is crucial to completing these papers, Professors and TAs want to see that
you can identify points of difference and similarity AND assess their significance. Simply noting that
authors agree or disagree is not enough.