Everyone agrees that the title is a very important part of representing the quality of an essay, especially since the title is the first thing the reader will see. If you are asked to write a comparison and contrast essay, your essay title should indicate the subject you are comparing and how to compare it, regardless of how formal or creative your title concept is. One of the most important things to remember: a good essay title should not be too long, must have a good level of readability, and be relevant to the content of the essay. Read this article to find more information, yes!
Step
Method 1 of 3: Creating an Informative Essay Title
Step 1. Determine the audience or readers of your essay
Before creating an essay title, think about the people who will be reading the essay. Is the reader of the essay your teacher, your teacher and classmates, your boss, your co-workers at work, or consumers of certain personal blogs and magazines? Identifying your audience can help you choose the right type of title to use in your essay.
Some examples of informative titles, such as “The Benefits of Keeping a Cat vs. Dogs”, might be better used in an essay written for academic purposes, while a more creative title such as “My Dog Is Better Than My Cat” might be better used in an essay written for personal use., like to put in a personal blog
Step 2. Write down the subject you want to compare
An informative title must be able to specifically describe the subjects that will be compared in the essay. Therefore, write down these subjects so you don't forget to include them in the essay title.
- Basically, you just need to list the main topics or themes you want to compare, like dogs and cats. Save more specific arguments related to each subject to be written in the body of the essay, yes!
- If you wish, you can also compare one subject over time, such as comparing rock music in the 20th and 21st centuries, or Renaissance art in Italy and the Netherlands. If that's the case, try writing down the subjects you'd like to compare them with, and then include the time setting for comparison.
Step 3. Determine the role of the essay in persuading the reader
Some comparison and contrast essay titles are packaged in such a way as to direct the reader towards a certain opinion, such as “Why Cats Are Better Than Dogs”. However, there are also essays that simply want to compare the subjects in it objectively and factually, as written with the title, "The Benefits of Keeping Cats vs Dogs". Before creating a title, first determine the purpose of your essay. Is your essay only made to compare the subjects in it objectively, or to influence the reader through the comparison?
- A persuasive essay title might use words like “benefit,” “better,” “useful,” “should,” “should,” “would,” and similar words that imply a better subject.
- Generally, informative titles will use direct comparison words such as, “versus,” “compared,” or “difference.” Words will only show that the two subjects are different, without implying that there is a better or worse subject.
Step 4. Create an informative title
After knowing the subject to be compared and the method for comparing it, now is the time to combine all these aspects with the title you have chosen, using persuasive and informative words.
Ideally, the end result will be able to explain to the reader the subject you will be comparing and contrasting, and the method you will use to do so, in just a few words. For example, if you want to compare the journey of rock music over time, try using a title such as, “Differences in Rock Chord Development in the 20th Century and the 21st Century
Method 2 of 3: Creating a Creative Essay Title
Step 1. Define your goals
If you want to create a creative title, the main step you must take is to attract the attention of the reader. To achieve that goal, of course, you need to think about your target audience and the expectations you want to achieve after writing for them. Would you like to provide them with more information? Do you want to plant a popular idea in their minds? Do you actually want to go against an idea that is considered popular? These goals can help you to determine the right choice of words to include in the title.
- If, for example, you only want to compare white chocolate and milk chocolate, then what you're really serving is facts. In other words, your goal is not to get the reader to choose a better chocolate, and one example of a title you could come up with is "Loco for Cocoa: Different Types of Chocolate."
- If you want to persuade your readers that milk chocolate is a better version, then you're trying to instill a popular idea in their minds. Meanwhile, if you want to persuade your readers that white chocolate is a better version, then you are actually trying to challenge popular opinion. In the second case, a better and more interesting title option would be “Free Your Soul – Why White Chocolate Is the Best Kind of Chocolate.”
Step 2. Avoid direct comparison words
If you want to come up with a creative title, try to avoid words or phrases that suggest direct comparisons. For example, dictions such as “versus” and “compared to” are informative, but they are not really interesting to the reader. Instead of using that kind of word choice, try comparing the subjects in your essay to action statements.
For example, a title like “Can Hash Browns Roll Fries off the Side of a Burger?” able to show the existence of tension between subjects and can challenge opinions that have been considered more popular. As a result, such titles are far more appealing to readers than, “Comparing Hash Browns and French Fries as Burger Side Meals.”
Step 3. Use colon (:
). Titles that involve alliteration or puns are interesting, but are generally difficult to use to explain the subject of your essay to readers. That's why you can use a colon (:) to connect a creative title with an informative description.
For example, if you want to compare two works of art by Van Gogh, try creating a title like, "A Look at Van Gogh: Comparing Floral Compositions in Almond Blossom and Poppy Flowers."
Method 3 of 3: Making Sure the Essay Title is Interesting, Easy to Understand, and Relevant
Step 1. Write the body of the essay first
Whatever your essay type, make sure the content is written before the title, especially since the ideas and arguments contained in the essay may change from time to time, and of course you don't want to keep changing the title if something changes in the essay, right? After all, the title of the essay will be easier to create once the entire content is perfected.
Step 2. Don't make the title too long
Some titles, especially those that use a semicolon (;) to link the main title with more creative and informative subtitles, are generally no longer than one sentence, and an essay title should be just that. In other words, the title of the essay should not be longer than one sentence, nor should it be divided into several compound sentences. That's why, you should use a title that is as short as possible, but still able to grab the reader's attention and represent your main idea.
Remember, the title of the essay only needs to indicate the subject of the essay and mention the method you used to compare and contrast those subjects. Save your argument for inclusion in the body of the essay
Step 3. Ask other people for their opinion
If you are not sure about the title you have chosen, try asking your closest friends and relatives to read the title of the essay, without reading the whole content. After that, ask them, "What do you think my essay is about, anyway?" It is their answers that determine whether or not your title should be revised to be more specific.
