When I was a kid, my older brother tried to convince me that I was an alien and that Mom and Dad would send me back to my own planet if I misbehaved.

Older siblings can be pretty persuasive, and if you’ve ever fallen victim to this persuasion (as I may have done once or twice), you already have a good understanding of what it takes to convince an audience.

How do you translate your experiences of being persuaded into being persuasive in your upcoming persuasive speech?

Here’s what you need to know to write a persuasive speech on just about anything.

The Art of Persuasion

Before you get started on your speech, it’s a smart idea to take the time to review a variety of techniques you can use to persuade your audience.

Thus, before we start the “how to” of how to write a persuasive speech, take a look at these articles:

Ready to move on to learning how to write a persuasive speech? Excellent. Let’s start with topic selection.

Step 1: Choose a Topic for Your Persuasive Speech

Choosing the right topic for your persuasive speech is just as important as choosing the right topic for a persuasive essay.

One of the first steps of topic selection is to understand your assignment.

You need to know, for instance, if there are any guidelines (or prohibitions) on topics. For example, can your speech attempt to convince your classmates to buy you lunch, or can you attempt to convince your teacher to not assign any more homework this year?

Does your speech need to be about a more serious topic like texting and driving or cyberbullying? If so, does it need to include research?

Once you understand the parameters of your assignment, think about your own interests and whether you can be convincing while speaking about a given topic.

Let’s say your BFF suggests you speak about whether fast food should be served in public high schools. If it doesn’t matter to you what schools serve because you think it all tastes awful, this probably isn’t the best topic for you.

Exhausted your mental resources and can’t think of the perfect topic for your persuasive speech? Here are 137 ideas:

I’ve decided that my speech (for example purposes in this article) will focus on aliens.

Step 2: Develop a Focus for Your Persuasive Speech

Once you have a topic for your speech, you’ll need to narrow it appropriately.

If you want to write about graffiti, for instance, you can’t just start writing everything you know about the topic. (If you do, you’ll end up with lots of content, and you’ll be able to meet the time requirements—but trust me, you won’t end up with a good persuasive speech.)

Instead of just randomly writing about the topic, develop a persuasive focus.

If you were writing about graffiti, for instance, you could write about why graffiti is actually art rather than vandalism or why graffiti needs to be cleaned up in a specific neighborhood.

In my example, I chose aliens as my broad topic, and I’m going to narrow my topic to the existence of aliens. That is, I hope to persuade my audience to believe that aliens exist. But I could be even more specific and try to persuade my audience that television and movie aliens are based on real aliens already on Earth. (Who’s to say Spock isn’t an actual extraterrestrial on our planet?)

Once you’ve nailed down your focus, It’s time to start developing the nuts and bolts of the speech.

Step 3: Outline the Main Ideas of Your Persuasive Speech

After you’ve narrowed your topic, outline the main ideas.

When developing the main ideas of your speech, first consider whether you’re required to complete research. If you need to cite sources, make sure to locate credible resources.

Don’t forget to check to see what types of sources you can use too. You might be able to cite all websites, but you may be required to cite more scholarly resources, such as books or journals.

Creating the outline

So about that outline.

Unless a formal outline is required, you can jot down ideas in any outline format that works for you. You can also try a graphic organizer to visualize ideas.

You can also simply write a few notes to help get your ideas rolling.

For example, I might list the following as my main ideas about the existence of aliens:

• Water is necessary for life, and water is present on a number of planets.
• Astronauts (who are trusted experts) have reported UFOs.
• Scientists have established the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute.

These ideas give me a starting point for each of my main body paragraphs and function much like topic sentences because they give me a direction for each paragraph.

Supporting your claims

Next, I’ll need to fill in the rest of the paragraph with evidence to support my claims.

In my case, I’d need evidence from the experts to help me explain the following:

• where (besides Earth) water is present in the universe, and why this means that aliens could exist;
• which astronauts reported UFOs, what they reported, and why this is credible evidence of the existence of aliens; and
• details about the SETI Institute, its origins, and its purpose, and why the mere fact that the institute exists means that scientists believe there is life beyond Earth.

After sketching out these rough ideas, I’m ready to write a draft of my speech (and cite my sources according to my assignment guidelines).

I would, of course, start my assignment early enough so that I would have time to revise and edit. (Revision is important, so make sure you leave enough time to revise and edit your speech too.)

Be Persuasive and Appeal to Your Audience

As you write your persuasive speech, remember that you’re trying to convince your audience, so you need to think about who makes up your audience and what they believe.

Think about writing a persuasive speech as being like creating an ad campaign.

If you were advertising casual tennis shoes to teens, you’d have to think about what matters to them. Teens want style. While cost can play a factor, for the most part, as long as the shoe is trendy, you’ve appealed to their basic requirement.

Now think about creating an ad campaign for casual tennis shoes for older adults. While style may play a role, older adults are more concerned with cost, durability, and comfort. If you can convince older adults that a tennis shoe is comfortable, you’ve hooked them. Even if your shoe is a little more expensive, they’ll be willing to hand over their hard-earned cash in exchange for some comfy kicks.

See how using the right language and the right type of appeal (such as ethos, pathos, or logos) is necessary in order to convince your audience?

How to appeal to your specific audience

Given the above, it’s important to keep your audience in mind and think about what matters to them as you draft your speech.

For instance, if you’re trying to convince your teacher and classmates, consider how you can appeal to a general audience.

If your teacher has assigned an audience for your speech, you may have to pretend you’re speaking to parents, teens, or members of the school board (and thus consider what types of arguments you’ll use to convince them).

If your teacher allows some flexibility with your speech, you might choose your own audience. For example, if you’re writing about aliens, you could ask the class to pretend they’re aliens and try to convince them to take you to their home planet.

The takeaway: Know your audience. If you know how they think and what they believe, you’ll be able to appeal to them and be more convincing.

Additional Resources to Help You Write a Persuasive Speech

If you have a pretty good sense of what you want to write about and how you’ll put your speech together but are still looking for a little more help, check out these additional resources:

If you’d like to read an example or two of a persuasive speech before you get to work on your own, check out these speeches from our library:

One final piece of wisdom regarding speeches: Take a few deep breaths, and relax.

We all get nervous speaking in front of people (especially when our grade depends on it), but being prepared before you step foot behind the podium can make the entire process of delivering your speech a little less stressful.

Want to make sure your speech is in tip-top shape before you put yourself out there? Let the editors at Kibin help. While we can’t necessarily help you calm your nerves in front of an audience, we can help you prepare a terrific speech (on just about anything).

Live long and prosper.

If I asked you to tie an overhand knot, you might stumble a bit. Actually, if you’ve never been a scout, you might think it’s impossible for you to know how to tie such an obscure knot.

But what if I showed you an example?

It would certainly help, right? Check out the video below to learn how to tie an overhand knot.

I’m pretty sure that most of you have tied this knot more than once in your lifetime. But as the video states, you simply didn’t know the official name of the knot you were tying.

So. What does tying knots have to do with writing a persuasive speech?

Admittedly, not much. But it does illustrate that sometimes you have a pretty good sense of how to do something, even if you don’t realize it. You just need an example to remind you how it’s done and to get you moving in the right direction.

That’s exactly the goal of this post: to provide you with two persuasive speech examples that can inspire your own writing.

2 Good Persuasive Speech Examples to Inspire You

In the two speeches below, I’ve included comments on what makes these examples good. I’ve also made note of a few places where the speaker may improve.

TAKE NOTE: Both of these speeches cite sources. If you’re required to turn in your outline or a copy of your speech, check with your teacher (or assignment guidelines) to see if you should include a Works Cited (MLA), a list of references (APA), or a bibliography (Chicago).

For both persuasive speeches, my commentary is marked with “Susan says” speech bubbles. The specific text that I’m discussing from each speech is notated with brackets and corresponding numbers—[#]. For commentary that applies to full paragraphs, you’ll see the following notation at the end of the paragraph(s): *[#].

A Persuasive Speech on Limiting the Production and Use of Plastic

[1] When you hear the term “polluted plastics” I can tell you the exact picture that just popped into about 10 of your heads. This one, right? You have all heard of how plastics are affecting our marine life and “oh, the poor sea turtle”. And that’s great! Really, it is. We have had the idea that “pollution is bad” drilled into our brains since we were about 7. But this little sea turtle is not necessarily the problem. It’s much bigger than him. Plastics are leaving lasting effects on our ecosystems due to the improper disposal. Plastic production also uses up many of our natural resources. It is up to us to make a change in order to maintain sustainability. [2] Today, I want to show you just how destructive these effects are, how big of a dent we are making in our natural resources, and what steps we should take next.

Susan says: 

[1] This opening uses an excellent hook to grab the attention of the audience. The speaker uses the common image of a sea turtle being affected by pollution to make a connection with the audience and get them thinking about how pollution affects the environment.

Susan says:

[2] The speaker ends the opening with a clear thesis statement to let the audience know that the speech isn’t just about sea turtles. The speech will discuss the environmental impact of plastics and how to reduce the use of plastics.

Remember, a thesis statement is like a roadmap to your entire speech, so make sure to include a focused thesis to let your audience know what to expect.

Let’s say you want to throw away one plastic water bottle. Okay, no big deal. It’s just one bottle right? Well, Charleston is a peninsula, meaning that we are entirely surrounded by the ocean. According to Hannah Ellsbury in her article “The Problem with Plastic”, for every six water bottles we use, only one makes it to the recycling bin. The rest are sent to landfills. Or, even worse, they end up as trash on the land and in rivers, lakes, and the ocean. That means that, on average, all of us in this room cumulatively throw away or litter 6,100 water bottles a year. Now, let’s say that about ¼ of these end up in our beautiful Charleston harbor. That’s about 1,525 bottles just floating around outside of Charleston in a year, and that’s strictly from our first year seminar class alone. Pollutants found in the plastic in disposable water bottles deteriorate and leach into the water leaving potential carcinogens in the water we drink daily. Now if all 1,525 water bottles in our harbor are deteriorating, that means your fresh seafood at Hyman’s might be slightly infested with pollutants. *[3]

Susan says:

*[3] Most people use (or have used) plastic water bottles. The speaker knows this and thus uses this example to make another connection with the audience.

The speaker even goes one step further by mentioning the effects of pollution on seafood at a local restaurant.

Using these types of personal and localized examples are excellent ways to convince your audience because the audience can directly relate and see how pollution affects their daily lives.

This section also cites statistics and other information from sources to provide evidence of the claim. Such information further convinces the audience because they realize that the speaker isn’t simply providing a personal opinion. Instead, statements are backed up by experts.

[4] Even worse, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, the law of biomagnification states that pollutants “increases its concentration in the tissues of organisms as it travels up the food chain”. This means that all of you seafood lovers might have more pollutants in our bodies than we would imagine. Now, I bet you’re wondering what happens to the rest of the actual plastic pieces left in our oceans. Plastic pieces like these? Well, animals are ingesting them. In fact, plastic pieces are being found within birds in the Pacific, meaning that the plastic pieces are literally killing them from the inside out. The plastic found throughout the oceans is a result of improper disposal of our plastics. [5] Even worse, though, is how these plastics are made.

Susan says:

[4] While many teachers frown upon the use of dictionary definitions in essays or speeches, in this case the definition works well because many people wouldn’t understand the phrase “law of biomagnification.”

Susan says:

[5] Notice the importance of the last line of this section. It provides a transition to link ideas together.

Your audience needs a clear path to see the connection between ideas. Transitional words and phrases provide this connection.

You see how far this water bottle is filled? Imagine that it’s not water. Look at that and picture it as oil. That’s how much oil is used in the production of this bottle. According to Catherine Fox from National Geographic, Americans buy more water bottles than any other nation averaging at about 29 billion. In order to make all these bottles, manufacturers use 17 million barrels of crude oil. That’s enough oil to keep a million cars going for twelve months. By investing $10 in a reusable plastic water bottle, you are saving on average, $81.25 per year. You could potentially fill your car, which for us freshman is probably sitting back at home in our driveways, up three times with that money. *[6]

Susan says:

*[6] You need to know your audience in order to effectively convince them. In this case, the speaker is keenly aware of the audience and knows that first-year college students are often strapped for cash. Showing the audience how they can save money while saving the planet is a win-win and certainly goes a long way in persuading listeners.

The Office of Sustainability offers these water bottles to all students. They are made out of tin and are much more durable than any other kind of water bottle.

These bottles were offered for free at our freshman convocation and continue to be offered to all students. Not to mention, Starbucks has an option to purchase a reusable cup for a cheap price. Dining Halls have already enforced a plastic-free environment to dine, however, students are still able to purchase plastic containers from vending machines in education buildings. I believe that the College of Charleston should maintain the same standards they have set for the dining halls throughout campus. Soda dispensers with compostable cups should replace the vending machines currently residing in our education buildings. The Starbucks on campus should charge a small fee for each plastic cup used when ordering cold drinks. There is no reason plastic cups should still be sold on campus, and I propose a small fee should be charged for every purchase involving plastic. *[7]

Susan says:

*[7] The speaker begins to wrap up the speech by offering solutions. This strategy helps the audience become even more interested in the topic and shows them what even small steps can do to reduce the use of plastics.

Now I’m hoping that you’re interested in doing something to help cut down on the pollutants entering, not only your body, but millions of aquatic sea creatures as well. You know the harmful effects of plastic on our environment and you know the dent we put in our planet in the production of these goods. We should all make an effort to use reusable water bottles, however, if we must, to recycle our plastic waste. We must put an end to the era of plastic so this little guy can swim freely, but only our generation can do so. *[8]

Susan says:

*[8] The final section again appeals to the audience as a call to action.

It’s clear that the speaker is referencing a visual when stating “so this little guy can swim freely.” The image more than likely refers back to the opening point about sea turtles and pollution.

Connecting the conclusion to a point made in the introduction is a nice way to tie ideas together. And although the final line is worded a bit awkwardly, the point is still clear.

A Persuasive Speech on the Topic of Organ Donation

[1] First of all I would like to thank you the board for inviting me here today, allowing me to be a part of and contributing to this cause that personally means so much to me. When I first contacted your organization, the Executive Director informed me that the greatest need was for a campaign that was tailored toward people between the ages of 18 and 24. The focus was to be on encouraging organ donation and facilitating open communication of the donor’s decision with family members. [2] Overall the campaign was to inform them of our nation’s public health crisis regarding organ donation. *[3]

Susan says:

[1] Rather than speaking to a general audience (or classmates and a teacher), this speaker is directly addressing an audience already aware that they will be listening to a speech about organ donation.

By speaking to a specific audience, this speaker can adjust the main ideas in order to directly appeal to listeners.

Susan says:

[2] Here, the speaker directly mentions the purpose of this speech: to inform the audience of the nation’s health crisis regarding organ donation.

Even though the audience likely knows the subject of the speech, in this thesis statement, the speaker lets the audience know that the focus is on the crisis of organ donation, not simply a general discussion of the topic.

Further, the speech focuses on the idea that this is a crisis. Thus, the speaker is clearly attempting to persuade listeners into seeing just how important it is to increase organ donation.

Susan says:

*[3] This opening paragraph is a solid start to the speech as it effectively presents the topic and appeals to the audience (which increases the likelihood that the speaker will persuade listeners).

That’s right: Organ Donation is a public health crisis.

• According to UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing as of this morning there are 90,350 American men, women, and children on the transplant waiting list.
• One person will die needlessly at the end of this hour waiting for organ donation and 10 more people are added to this list every day.
• There are over 250 billion people in our country. *[4]

Susan says:

*[4] Here, the speaker cites powerful statistics to persuade the audience and illustrate just how many people need organ transplants and how many die because they don’t receive the life-saving help they need.

Using startling statistics causes the audience to take notice. Plus, because the numbers are shocking, the audience is more likely to remember the argument made by the speaker and more likely to be convinced.

According to the Department of Health and Human Resources, in 2002, there were 2.5 million deaths, and 106,742 of them were due to accidents. In 2002, 6,190 donor heroes and their families made the decision to donate. When comparing these statistics less than a half percent, not even 1% of these accidental fatalities were used to save or improve the life of another human being. So when I say heroes that is exactly what I mean. *[5]

Figures taken from The Oregon Donor Program website are disheartening. The Oregon population is at 3.5 million and last year only 84 donor heroes and their families chose to donate the gift of life in our state. *[6]

You see the reality is it doesn’t take 90,000 donors to save or improve the lives of these people. For every one organ donor has the potential to help at least 50 individuals with their “Gift of Life”. You see I know this personally because two very special people to me were organ donors who died tragically and unexpectedly. Through my experiences I have gained a greater understanding of what the “Gift of Life” really means. *[7]

Susan says:

*[5–7] In these paragraphs, the speaker again stresses the lack of donors and attempts to persuade the audience to donate by illustrating how many people they can help through organ donation.

This campaign was specifically tailored for the scholars of Southern Oregon University, its alumni and community members who are a truth seeking, compassionate, and educated group of individuals. The campaign goal is to share this information utilizing an information kiosk for SOU students and alumni in the student union. The kiosk would give SOU community members the opportunity to sign up as organ donors and would offer practical useful tools to share their decision with their loved ones. *[8]

Susan says:

*[8] The speaker again appeals to the audience by complimenting them while explaining the campaign to increase organ donation.

By appealing to the audience’s sense of compassion, the speaker increases the chances of listeners believing in the cause.

The two artifacts I have created specifically for this persuasion campaign are:

* A green hospital bracelet will be given to each new organ donor or individuals who can show a driver’s license indicating them as being an organ donor at the kiosk. *[9]

The bracelet itself is an example of symbolic persuasion representing the many lives that have been touched by organ donation. The pictures and names on each bracelet are actual people that have either been the patient waiting, the patient who died waiting, the transplant survivor, or the donor heroes. *[10]

The bracelet then is used as a reminder, and a reinforcing element of their commitment to organ donation. Because the bracelet is worn and not tucked away it encourages vital communication of the donor’s decision with family and peers. *[11]

* My second artifact is a letter that was created to address and personalize the donor’s donation decision. A Gallup poll conducted for the Partnership for Organ Donation showed that 85% of Americans supported organ donation. According to the Organtransplants.org website each year nearly 50% of families decline the opportunity to save lives by donating organs and tissues of deceased loved ones. The truth is even if you have decided to be an organ donor and you yourself know the significance of your choice your family has the final say as to whether or not your commitment is carried out. *[12]

The letter will serve as another reminder of the donor’s commitment to share his donation decision with his family, furthermore solidifying his decision and his intent. *[13]

Susan says:

*[9–13] At the end of the speech, the speaker explains what artifacts will be used to encourage participation in organ donation. The artifacts represent real people, not just abstract numbers. This not only allows the current audience to make a personal connection but also allows them to see how this campaign will impact others.

By looking forward and illustrating how the artifacts will help the cause, the speaker has further convinced the audience to agree with the importance of both organ donation itself and participating in the campaign described in the speech.

[several paragraphs omitted]

In conclusion, the facts remain that:

• 90,350 people are waiting…for a life-saving transplant
• 19 people die every day because of the lack of organ donation.
• Last year 6,529 people died …waiting for a life saving transplant.
• In 2004 there were 7,151 donors and their families who chose to share the “gift of life”.
• According to the Department of Health and Human Resources in 2004, 27,036 people received a lifesaving organ transplant.*[14]

Organ donation is based on altruism in our culture. That is according to Mr. Webster an unselfish concern for or dedication to the interests or welfare of others. My final plea to this audience of truth seeking, compassionate, educated individuals would be to take a look at the facts, take a look at the need then take a look at what you can and will do to help fill the gap for Alex, Christopher, Amy, Fletcher, Mike, Katy, Jim, Jonah, Kim, Crystal, Gloria, Darcy, Chuck, Nikolette, Caleb, Don, Zachary, Joshua, Isabella, Mark, Kennedy, Alicia, Jerry, Ashton, Gary and Nona. *[15]

[16] Organ donation costs nothing, yet could mean everything!

Susan says:

*[14–15] Though the speaker might choose a more effective phrase than “in conclusion,” the end of this speech provides a clear push to persuade the audience. By citing shocking statistics and again making the information personal by adding names (rather than only statistics), the speaker is more likely to persuade the audience.

Susan says:

[16] The final line is also a call to action. This strategy is effective because it asks listeners to personally get involved and make a difference.

Now That You’re Inspired

Now that you’re inspired by the two persuasive speech examples above, it’s time to get creative and write your own speech.

Before you do, take a look at these resources to help get your speech rolling:

After you’ve written your speech, don’t forget that Kibin editors are here to help. Our expertise isn’t limited to essays, either. We have oodles of experience editing speeches too, and we’re ready to help you with yours.

People who read a book before watching the movie adaptation often claim that the book is better than the movie. When you ask them why, they simply shrug and say, “It just was.”

This reply works fine if you’re talking about a movie with your friends, but if you have to write a comparison essay about a book and its film adaptation, your teacher is going to expect a little more (okay a lot more) than “it just was.”

If you need a push to help you move beyond that basic “I just like it more” as your standard of comparison, keep reading to learn how to write a killer book and movie comparison essay.

How to Write a Killer Book and Movie Comparison Essay

Sometimes, the mere thought of starting a new assignment can cause more stress than you’d like to admit. But by following a few important steps, you can alleviate at least a little of your stress and write a killer essay.

To work through the process of developing an effective book and movie comparison essay, I’m going to use an example that many of us have read and watched in high school: To Kill a Mockingbird.

Begin by understanding your assignment

The first step to writing a successful book and movie comparison is to understand your assignment.

In many cases, your professor will have already assigned a movie and book to compare. This means that now is not the time to take it upon yourself to draw an amazing comparison between a Harry Potter novel and its movie counterpart simply because you’re a superfan.

Knowing your assignment also means that, if you’re assigned to read and watch To Kill a Mockingbird, for instance, and your professor tells you to pay attention to characterization and symbolism, you should definitely follow her suggestion.

If you know that these elements will be required analysis in your paper, then you already have a head start and know what you should be looking for as you read and watch.

Take careful notes

I know annotation can seem like a royal pain, but trust me, you’ll thank me later. Taking notes not only helps you understand the information more completely but also saves you a lot of time because you can easily find information later when you write your paper.

Remember, you’re writing a compare and contrast essay, so you’ll want to take notes on both the book and the movie to help you draw comparisons.

Taking notes if you do know the required focus of your paper

If you already know what you should be looking for, jot down everything that seems important about the assigned topic.

If I were taking notes on one or more characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, for instance, here are a few points I’d look for:

• Physical descriptions
• Personality traits
• Characters’ thoughts on events or other characters
• What motivates characters to complete specific actions
• Interactions between characters
• Types of characters (protagonist, antagonist, round, flat, etc.)

I might also include any questions about characters or sections that leave me a little confused or wondering, “Why in the world would the character do that?”

Though you’ll look for the same elements in both the book and the movie, you might end up with notes about completely different characters or character traits after watching the movie, especially if the film takes a lot of creative liberties and vastly differs from the book.

Don’t worry! A drastically different set of notes will likely serve you well—it’ll help you establish true comparisons between the novel and the film.

If I were writing about the film version of To Kill a Mockingbird, here’s one of the key points I’d note about the characters:

• There’s a distinct change in the treatment of characters, particularly Jem and Scout’s mother. In the novel, their mother is only mentioned briefly, but in the movie, Jem and Scout have a detailed conversation about their deceased mother.

Because I’m only taking notes, I may not have a clear sense of why, how, or even if this is important to the story yet. That’s okay. Remember, the point is to start developing ideas.

In this case, I may wonder if the mention of their mother in this scene is meant to foreshadow another conversation, if the mother will somehow play a larger role in the movie, or if this scene is only a way for the producers to help develop the story on film.

Taking notes if you don’t know the focus of your paper before you read the book or watch the movie

If you’re assigned to read a book and watch the movie but you don’t yet know what the actual essay assignment will be, it’s time to search your memory for the literary terms you’ve been discussing in class.

Take notes on literary devices, such as theme, character, symbolism, imagery, simile, and metaphor. (Notice how this essay about To Live analyzes, among other devices, character, plot, and tone.)

One important thing to remember about the process of note-taking is that you don’t want to become so overwhelmed with writing notes that you don’t even remember what you just read or watched. In other words, don’t take notes on everything. Limit your notes to a handful of key devices.

As you take notes, look for elements that appear identical in both versions, but also look for anything that seems strikingly different.

Don’t worry if you don’t end up using everything in your notes or if a point seems really important at first but ends up being insignificant. The purpose of annotation is to get your ideas down on paper. You can sort through them later.

Think about what it all means

After you’ve finished reading, watching, and note-taking, set everything aside for at least a day or two to think about what it all means.

A list of notes and a whole bunch of random similarities and differences are great, but they don’t provide any information about the significance of these points (and they don’t yet provide you with a focus for academhelper.com).

Remember, the goal of a comparison essay isn’t to simply identify points that might be the same or different.

The goal is to analyze the differences and explain how any additions, omissions, or changes in the film change the story or its interpretation.

In my example of To Kill a Mockingbird, I might have listed questions about Mrs. Dubose. In the book, she’s a crabby, old, racist neighbor of Jem and Scout, and it is later revealed that she is struggling with a morphine addiction. She plays a much smaller role in the movie version of To Kill A Mockingbird, though, and the issue of addiction isn’t brought up.

In my notes, I may ask the following questions:

• Did the producers feel that Mrs. Dubose’s addiction simply wasn’t important enough to include in the film?
• Does the omission actually have an impact on the story?
• Could the changes to Mrs. Dubose’s character affect elements such as plot, theme, or characterization (or the viewer’s interpretation of characters)?

Sifting through your notes and random thoughts and questions can get messy, so to stay organized (and to help you develop your ideas even further) try various prewriting techniques. (A Venn diagram can be particularly useful when examining similarities and differences.)

Determine what is important enough to be included in your comparison essay

After you’ve organized your notes and developed some initial analysis, it’s time to decide what’s important enough to include in academhelper.com.

Not every similarity or difference is worth noting in your paper. Include only relevant and significant points that make the greatest impact between the book and movie.

Here’s what I mean.

In To Kill a Mockingbird, there is little physical description of Atticus Finch, other than the facts that he’s about 50 years old, is tall, and wears glasses. In the 1962 movie adaptation starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch, Peck more or less fits this description. But in the movie, it’s evident that he parts his hair on the right (his right, not yours when looking at the image below).

Though there is no description of how Atticus wears his hair in the novel, and his hairstyle is obviously visible in the movie, there’s no point in mentioning this in an essay that compares the book and movie. It’s an insignificant point. His hairstyle is not relevant and doesn’t influence or shape the story in any way.

Let’s say, though, that a character’s hairstyle in a book is described in detail because it’s part of the character’s personality or because it symbolizes freedom, rebellion, or strength.

If the movie changes the character’s hairstyle, in this case, the entire character could change. This would most certainly be a time to analyze the importance of a change in appearance from book to film.

To see how one writer analyzes significant differences between a book and its movie adaptation, read A Comparison of the Similarities and Differences Between The Princess Bride Film and Novel.

Find a focus and outline your ideas

At this point, you have a solid list of relevant points to analyze, but you still don’t have a focus for your paper.

To start, develop a solid thesis statement.

Don’t write a bland statement like, “There are many similarities, but only a few differences between the book and movie.”

This doesn’t tell your readers anything about the true focus of academhelper.com.

Instead, craft a thesis statement that is specific in its comparison and lets readers know exactly what you’ll be discussing.

In my essay about To Kill a Mockingbird, I might write the following thesis statement:

• Though the 1962 film adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird is true to the themes of the original novel, its omission of minor characters leaves the audience with an incomplete understanding of the people and culture of Maycomb.

This thesis statement presents a clear roadmap for the essay and lets readers know the focus will be on the omission of characters and how they affect the story. (Want to see an effective thesis statement in action? Check out this essay from our library. It clearly illustrates why the writer feels The Great Gatsby novel is superior to the film adaptation.)

Once you’ve written your thesis statement, use it to provide guidance as you move to the next step of the writing process: outlining.

You’ll need roughly three or four key ideas and examples from the book and movie to support your claims.

If you’re looking for more specific information about outlines, read This Compare and Contrast Essay Outline Will Help You Beat Writer’s Block. The post also includes a compare and contrast essay outline template to help you get started.

Finally … Draft (and Revise and Edit) Your Comparison Essay

I know. It’s been a long journey, and at this point, you feel like you’ve just completed a marathon. The good news: it’s finally time to draft academhelper.com.

Follow your outline to help you craft a catchy introduction, at least three body paragraphs to support your thesis, and an awesome conclusion.

To help you with the finer details of your draft, here are a few must-read posts:

Have a completed essay but aren’t sure whether you’ve focused enough on analysis or whether you’ve included significant points in your comparison? Let a Kibin editor take a look at academhelper.com. We’ve edited tens of thousands of essays and can help you with your book and movie comparison essay too.