1. Ask:
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
How?

2. Ask: What’s relevant to the assignment? What’s relevant to the course?
What’s interesting and informative?
What matters to the argument you are going to make?
What’s basic or central (and needs to be mentioned even if obvious)?
Overall, what’s more important—the similarities or the differences?

4. Pepper’s
Amante
Location
Price
Delivery
Ingredients
Service
Seating/eating in
Coupons

5. Bad Thesis 
This paper will compare and contrast two pizza places.
Pepper’s and Amante are similar in some ways and different in others.
Pepper’s and Amante are similar in many ways, but they have one major difference.
Good Thesis
Pepper’s and Amante have similar prices and ingredients, but their atmospheres and willingness to deliver set them apart.
Great Thesis! 
Pepper’s and Amante both offer a greater variety of ingredients than other Chapel Hill/Carrboro pizza places (and than any of the national chains), but the funky, lively atmosphere at Pepper’s makes it a better place to give visiting friends and family a taste of local culture.

6. There are two primary ways to organize your compare and contrast paper.
Chunking: placing all of the information for each individual subject in one place (chunk).
Here’s a sample outline:
Introduction – who are Jane and Alice?
Jane is distinct because…
Jane is similar to Alice in these ways
Alice is distinct because…
Conclusion – Is Jane or Alice a better person?
Piecing: giving pieces of the information for each individual subject in each paragraph—arranging the information by topic rather than by subject.
Here’s a sample outline:   
Differences and Similarities in Jane and Alice’s appearances
Differences and Similarities in Jane and Alice’s backgrounds
Differences and Similarities in Jane and Alice’s interests
Conclusion – is Jane or Alice a better person?