Compare and contrast essays don’t have to be dull and tedious! Homeschool high school students will be sure to enjoy a few of this week’s lighthearted topics.
Help teens stay focused with a four-paragraph outline: introduction, similarities, differences, and conclusion. Motivated writers may need two paragraphs for the comparisons or two paragraphs for the contrasts, and that’s fine, too!
1. Fashion Statement
It makes us laugh and makes us cry; it fills our closets and empties our wallets. Fashion, past and present, can be fun to study and even more fun to wear! Compare and contrast the clothing styles of today with the styles from a twentieth-century decade of your choice.
2. All in the Family
Family reunions tend to occur at the time of births, weddings, and funerals. Choose two of these three events to compare and contrast.
3. Saved by the Bell?
Some people procrastinate every assignment and always arrive five minutes late. Others rise before dawn, meet deadlines early, and arrive at meetings with a quarter hour to spare. You know both types, so it’s time to immortalize them in a compare/contrast essay.
4. Behind Closed Doors
Imagine two modest-sized houses: the first belongs to a young pair of newlyweds, and the other is owned by an elderly couple. Compare and contrast these two homes, including the furniture styles, the gadgets and appliances, and the number of items stored in garages, drawers, and closets.
5. Bucket Lists and Dirty Floors
How does it feel to experience something the very first time? How do your feelings change when the activity becomes an old routine? Think about an experience such as driving a car, going camping, baking a cake, or practicing an instrument. Compare and contrast the first time you tried it with your most recent experience.
6. Cheaper by the Dozen
Piles of laundry, noise levels, schedules, routines—we see so many differences between large and small families. Contrast a few of the differences you’ve noticed, and compare several things that both kinds of families have in common.
A Venn diagram is the perfect compare-contrast brainstorming tool! Students who prefer using a laptop over pencil and paper might enjoy this cool tool from Canva for creating Venn diagrams online—for free!
Easy-to-Teach Essay and Creative Writing Curriculum
for Homeschool Teens
If you’re looking for an easy-to-teach homeschool writing curriculum for your teens, consider our WriteShop program:
Download free sample lessons here.
