This document provides guidance on developing an effective compare and contrast essay. It outlines seven key steps: 1) Identifying and defining key words, 2) Identifying a conflicting idea, 3) Writing about the conflicting idea in the introduction, 4) Brainstorming ideas, 5) Selecting examples to discuss ideas, 6) Grouping ideas and developing topic sentences, and 7) Planning and sequencing body paragraphs. The document then provides a sample topic on the private and public worlds of leaders and walks through applying the seven steps to developing an essay on that topic. It includes examples of brainstorming ideas and examples from texts that could be discussed in the essay.

1. Essay Planning Skills Booklet
The Queen and Ransom
Preparing to write an effective compare and contrast essay requires a number of steps. Students
must be able to brainstorm ideas and issues, think of examples to support these ideas and then
organise their thoughts into some kind of order. This booklet explains and provides opportunities to
practise these steps in a methodical way. These are the steps involved:
1. Identify and define key words
2. Identify a conflicting idea
3. Write about the conflicting idea
4. Brainstorm ideas
5. Select best examples to discuss ideas
6. Group ideas and develop topic sentences
7. Plan and sequence body paragraphs
To practise these steps, there are thinking and planning activities on eight different topics, starting
with a simple topic and progressing through to more complex topics. The seven planning steps are
explained in detail for the first essay topic. After that, there are less detailed instructions for each of
the following essay topics so there is more opportunity for students to practise thinking and
planning skills on their own. However, since each essay topic has some unique aspect that needs to
be taken into account in the thinking and planning process, there will be a detailed explanation of
this.
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2. Essay topic activity 1
Focus topic:
“This isn’t a matter of state…this is a private matter.” (The Queen)
Compare how the tension between the private and public world of leaders is examined in these two
texts.
1. Identify and define key words
This is an important step in the brainstorming process because it helps you to understand what the
question is really about. There are two parts to this. The first part of this step is to highlight the key
idea words in the prompt, like this:
“This isn’t a matter of state…this is a private matter.” (The Queen)
Compare how the tension between the private and public world of leaders is examined in these two
texts.
The next part involves thinking about what these key terms actually mean. This could involve
brainstorming synonyms such as in the example below:
private: person, individual, hidden
public world: public sphere, outward
But importantly, it should always involve thinking about what the key terms mean by defining them.
Here’s an example:
• private world: a place where a person feels they can be themselves - this could be on their own,
or with family or friends.
• public world: a place where a person needs to interact with others and fulfil a role - this could be
with big groups of people like a nation or simply a group of people who aren’t friends or family
Defining key terms in this way will help you understand the full scope or implications of an idea. In
turn, it will help you brainstorm the most relevant examples to use in your essays.
Dealing with a quote
Any quotes that accompany a prompt show you a perspective about that idea - i.e how a character
feels or acts on that idea in the text. You need to keep this perspective in mind when completing
Step Five (“Brainstorm Examples”).
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3. 2. Identify a conflicting idea
At the heart of a good essay is a discussion about ideas. An effective discussion looks at different
aspects of an idea. Sometimes an essay topic will lead you directly to think about conflicting ideas
such as in the example below which is clearly asking you to think about ‘private’ and ‘public
worlds’:
“This isn’t a matter of state…this is a private matter.” (The Queen)
Compare how the tension between the private and public world of leaders is examined in these two
texts.
Sometimes the conflicting ideas are not as clear as this. Don’t worry, we’ll deal with this on page 9.
3. Write about the conflicting idea in the essay topic
Once you’re clear about the different or conflicting ideas an essay topic is asking you to discuss,
you can write the first few sentences of your introduction. It’s important that you don’t simply
restate the essay topic at the beginning of your introduction, but instead write about the scope of
ideas in the topic. Below is an example of a couple of sentences that respond to the topic we’ve
been focusing on:
Leaders are often required to balance the demands of their public role against the needs of their
personal life. Both The Queen and Ransom explore how this conflict impacts on leaders and
requires them to make difficult choices and changes to their life.
There are two types of sentences here. A big idea sentence that introduces the general idea of the
essay topic and a more specific statement that shows how different aspects of this idea is explored
in The Queen or Ransom.
☞ Try using some of the sentence starters below to write two sentences in response to the
topic:
Big idea sentence:
Leaders are often forced to…
Leaders are often required to balance…
Leaders often find themselves torn between…
In times of…, leaders find themselves caught between…
Text idea sentence:
Both Ransom and The Queen explore how this conflict…
Both Ransom and The Queen focus on a range of leaders who experience such a conflict and…
Both Malouf and Frears explore how leaders…
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4. 4. Brainstorm ideas
At this point, you might already be able to think about specific examples from both texts, and that’s
awesome. But the best essays focus upon the ideas first, so it’s important not just to rush into
thinking of examples, but to step back and brainstorm the implications of the ideas in the topic.
When you are brainstorming the ideas from the topic, it is helpful to think about three different
categories of ideas:
1. The beliefs that people have about the conflicting ideas. The reason that each topic has a conflict
in it is that people often believe contradictory things. You need to think about what beliefs
might support the different sides of the conflict.
2. The actions people might take to support their beliefs. If people hold certain beliefs, they are
likely to take actions or engage in behaviours that support or live up to these beliefs. Think
about actions people might take as a result of their beliefs.
3. The outcomes that might result from any actions taken. Every action will have a result or
outcome. Identify the results of actions people take.
Below is an example of a brainstorming table for the topic we have been looking at. When you look
at this, notice that the statements are conceptual descriptions of what people think or do - they’re
not specific examples of what characters do in either of the texts. This is important because your
essay needs to be driven by ideas, not examples.
Beliefs Actions Outcomes
Private
world of
leaders
“private
matter”
Leaders believe they have a
right to a private life that no
one else can see or judge
Some experiences should be
private, even for leaders
Leaders have a life that they
hide from their public
The families of leaders are
private
Some emotions and opinions are
only expressed in private
Protect their families
Make themselves unavailable to
their public
Tell their public to leave them
alone
Do things secretly
The public is upset that leaders
are not visible
Leaders feel happier if parts of
their lives are private
If lives are too private, there is
a disconnect between leaders
and their people
Public world
of leaders
“matter of
state”
Leaders have a responsibility
to others
Leaders can create a sense of
community by sharing
experiences
Leaders have an obligation to
lead more aspects of their lives
in public
Leaders lives and families
should be public
Leaders have to create a sense of
occasion, by having rituals,
parades, public displays
Make speeches, perform in
public in some way
Talk to members of the public
Show family in public
People are reassured by seeing
what leaders do
People feel that they are part of
a community
Leaders are put under pressure
Leaders are reluctant to do their
job
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5. 5. Select best examples to discuss ideas
Now you know the ideas you want to explore, you need to think of examples to discuss these ideas.
When brainstorming examples, the aim is to identify a few really good examples, rather than
focusing on coming up with as many examples as you can. Since most of your paragraph should be
dedicated to a discussion and comparison of how ideas are presented in the text, this means you
only need 1-2 examples per text. The table below lists just a few examples that could be used to
discuss the ideas about the beliefs leaders have. You’ll note that there is not an example for every
single idea, just enough examples to support a discussion of these ideas.
If there is a quote as part of the essay task, you should think about it at this point. You need to
consider the attitude or belief that the quote represents and how you are using evidence in one of
your paragraphs that demonstrates this viewpoint. This might mean you use the exact quote from
the essay topic, or something similar.
Reviewing a checklist of a whole range of examples will help you pick the best ones to use to
discuss a point.
☞ At the end of this booklet is a checklist of examples. Use this to identify 1-2 examples from
each text you could use to discuss the ideas in each of the other columns you created in Step 4.
Queen examples Ransom examples
• “It’s a family funeral. Not a fairground
attraction.”
• Blair wants to “save these people from
themselves”
• Achilles is focusing on his grief by trying to
destroy Hector’s body
• Priam is working on a personal issue - he
wants to be an ordinary man and not kingly
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6. 6. Group ideas and develop topic sentences
One advantage of using a table such as the one in Step Four, is that it conveniently helps you bundle
ideas into three groups that can create the foundation for three body paragraphs in your essay. Your
task now is to develop a topic sentence for each group of ideas. Here’s an example topic sentence
for the first set of ideas in the ‘belief’ column of the table:
Both Malouf and Frears explore how leaders believe they have a right to a private life that is
separate and hidden from the public.
This topic sentence has three parts to it:
Importantly, the phrase “believe they have a right” shows that this paragraph is about beliefs. This
phrase is borrowed directly from the idea brainstorming in Step 4, which shows how important it is
to think about ideas first.
The table below lists words and phrases you can use to write the first two parts of a topic sentence -
no matter what the essay topic:
☞ Now it’s your turn. Have a go writing your own topic sentences about the set of ideas in the
‘action’ and ‘outcome’ column from the table in Step 4. Use the words in the table above.
Sentence starter Paragraph focus Link to topic
Both, Malouf and Frears
explore how
leaders believe they have a
right
to a private life that is
separate and hidden from the
public.
Sentence starters Paragraph focus
Throughout both
texts,..
Over the course of
both texts,…
In both texts,…
Malouf and Frears
explore
highlight
emphasise
examine
focus upon
leaders
individuals
protagonists
the public
believe
feel that
act in a way that
struggle with
must confront
are forced to
ultimately need to
in the end must learn
find that they
discover
events
change
forces
leads to
creates
results in
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7. 7. Plan and sequence body paragraphs
Once you’ve come up with examples there is one further step before you begin to write your essay:
you need to plan each paragraph in a bit more detail. This includes:
• Writing out the examples in the order you’ll discuss them
• Making notes about your analysis of how the examples demonstrate the ideas your paragraph is
about
Below is an example of detailed paragraph plan. Key features of this plan include:
• A focus on ideas: examples are in bold, everything else is notes on analysis that links the
examples to ideas. You can see there is more analysis than examples.
• Short and simple statements: a good plan is short.
Sometimes in this planning process you’ll realise that one of your examples doesn’t fit in as well
with your ideas as well as other examples. In this case, you’re better off discussing the ideas one
example demonstrates in more detail rather than including two examples that don’t work.
☞ Using the thinking you’ve done for Steps 5 & 6, create a detailed plan for two further
paragraphs.
Topic sentence Throughout both texts, Malouf and Frears explore how leaders struggle to
navigate the divide between the desire for privacy and personal opinions and
a sense of duty and diplomacy to the public or people they are responsible for.
The Queen Grief is an intensely personal emotion - but people want to share it:
“It’s a family funeral. Not a fairground attraction.”
But the expectation to share is heavy. Blair wants the royal family to see that
the public feels entitled to share the grief over Diana —>“Won’t someone
save these people from themselves”
Link Like Elizabeth, grief and anger fuel Achilles’withdrawal from his public duty
Ransom Achilles has lost his soulmate.
He feels his grief can’t be understood .
Abandons his role as leader.
He isolates himself —> mutilates Hector’s corpse.
Similarly, Priam wants to be an ordinary man and not kingly.
Conclusion Malouf’s characters abandon their leadership roles in order to deal with their
private grief, but Frear’s leaders show an understanding that their personal
beliefs must ultimately be suppressed so that they can be true leaders of
people.
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8. Essay Topic 2
This topic is very similar to the one from the previous activity, so that you can practise doing each
of the essay response steps on your own.
Focus topic:
‘The conflict between personal feeling and public duty always leads to a dilemma.’
Compare the ways in which this conflict is shown in The Queen and Ransom.
Once again, this essay topic is asking you to write about the ideas of ‘personal feeling’ and ‘public
duty.’ However, this topic also contains some other key words. We’ve underlined these:
The conflict between personal feeling and public duty always leads to a dilemma.’Compare the
ways in which this conflict is shown in The Queen and Ransom.
‘Always’ is a good example of a modifier. Modifiers are words that describe how often or to what
extent something happens. Other examples of modifiers you commonly find in essay topics are:
• never
• all
• everyone
• sometimes
• important
• most
• really
When you have an essay topic with a modifier, you cannot ignore it or pretend that it’s not there, but
you can think of other ways of discussing it, like in the example table below:
☞Now, go through steps 1-7 for this essay topic
personal feelings public duty always dilemma
often
sometimes
occasionally
regularly
from time to time
consistently
regularly
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