Chapter 6
Writing a Compare and Contrast Paper
By Robert Cruz
Table of Contents
Audience........................................................................................................48
Indirect..............................................................................................48
Direct.................................................................................................49
Content..........................................................................................................49
Organization Method........................................................................49
Headings............................................................................................49
Formatting.....................................................................................................49
Alignment..........................................................................................49
Fonts..................................................................................................50
References.....................................................................................................50
Here at The Writers Block, we are often confronted with a client that wants us to educate a designated audience
so that they may make an informed decision about selecting certain options. We follow a specific set of
conventions and guidelines in all our papers to ensure that the end product consistently stays to the high
standards that our customers come to expect from us and rely on. These methods have been shown to maintain
the overall quality in our documents, and ensure that the information that we supply is valid and thorough
enough that the target audience has no trouble finding the comparative information they need.
Audience
This section details the methods used to ensure that the audience receives the message in the most concise way
possible. These methods will change depending on who will be receiving the message, and who will read the
document we produce [Markel].
- Indirect
Often, our documents are not written only for the final recipient (i.e. the decision maker), but for a
secondary party that will assist in the decision making process (such as, an investor or lawyer). If
encountered, we address this situation by adding additional criteria that fits the needs of the secondary
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A company for creative writing solutions
party, while primarily addressing the decision maker. This allows the secondary party to be informed
about what concerns them in the same document that informs the decision maker.
- Direct
If there are no secondary parties involved, the document will be written only with the criteria relevant
to the decision maker(s) (as detailed by the client commissioning the document) in order to prevent the
document from becoming too bloated with irrelevant information and making it more difficult to find
criterion of interest. If the is information that is highly relevant to the subjects being compared but
outside of the knowledge of the audience, it is your job to provide enough information to educate the
audience. You should not assume that the decision maker will be knowledgeable to industry specific
jargon if they are out of the industry in question.
Content
This section details the structures and conventions we employ in constructing the content of a
compare/contrast paper.
- Organization method
We use the whole-by-whole method to form the body of papers, which ensures that our clients can
easily differentiate at a glance the subjects being compared. Part-by-part formatting makes it more
confusing for the reader, as they must sift through each criterion to determine which feature
corresponds to which subject.
- Headings
Even though we use the whole-by-whole method, we still utilize headings for each criterion of each
subject, so that it is apparent which criterion is being addressed without making the reader look too
hard.
Formatting
This section details the format that we use to improve the aesthetics and readability of our compare/contrast
papers.
- Alignment
Each subject header should be left aligned, along with any introductory information beneath it. Subheaders should be placed one tab to the right from the left margin, with paragraphs aligned with the
sub-header. Each time the sub-header goes down a level, another tab should be added. This keeps the
document lined up in a way that makes it very apparent which subject each criterion fits under.
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A company for creative writing solutions
- Fonts
In order to stay consistent in our formatting, we have conventions on the fonts useable in each part of
the document. Always keep the format consistent within each document, using the same font (and font
size) for each area as it appears. Table 1 expresses our conventions and examples of recommended
fonts for each part.
Table 1: Font Conventions for Compare/Contrast Documents
Document Location Font Convention
Recommended Fonts
Subject Headers
Body Text
Proportional, Bold,
Serif fonts recommended
Proportional, Bold,
Serifs match the header font
Non-Bold, Sans-serif fonts only
Table Titles
Italic, matches body text
Table Contents
Matches body text, labels
different from content
Subject Criterion
Times New Roman,
Cambria, Georgia, Tahoma
Times New Roman,
Cambria, Georgia, Tahoma
Verdana, Helvetica, Arial,
Calibri
Verdana, Helvetica, Arial,
Calibri
Verdana, Helvetica, Arial,
Calibri
Source: Cruz, Robert. “Company Font Preferences”. Survey. 3 Feb 2014
References
Markel, Mike. "Organizing Your Information." Technical Communication. 8th edition. Boston, MA: Bedford/St.
Martin's, 2007. 129-152.
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