Comparison & Contrast Essay: Marriage & Divorce (feat. Jasmine and Christopher)

This topic was given to me and my 2 coursemates (Jasmine and Christopher) by my teacher, Ms. Parveen. Maybe because the English writing level of us three is considered good in my Academic English lecture class, she decided to give us this topic as a sign of her high expectations towards us. Luckily, we #nailed the essay and she was quite pleased with the outcome.

Essay:

American writer Mark Twain once said, 'Love seems the swiftest, but it is the slowest of all growths. No man or woman really knows what perfect love is until they have been married a quarter of a century.' Marriage and divorce; both are common experiences in one's love life and yet they appeared on different timelines. Hence, the difference between marriage and divorce is their roles in relationships while the similarities of marriage and divorce are that they requires the agreement between two individuals, and has involvement in legal work.

First, the difference between marriage and divorce lies in their roles in a relationship between two individuals. Marriage means an intimate union between two individuals while divorce is defined as the process of terminating the union between the two individuals. From there, it is safe to say that marriage happens when two individuals wanted to be together for life while divorce occurs when the two individuals grew resentment from the marriage and decided to be apart from each other. For short, the processes of marriage and divorce differs in how they act their parts in one's relationship with his/her spouses.

In contrast, the first similarity of marriage and divorce is that both processes requires the agreement between two individuals. Before two individuals get married, both must reach a firm agreement which they must adapt to their marriage life with mutual respect and passion. Same for the divorce process, both individuals must agree to part from each other without causing issues to both individuals. Without mutual agreement, the two individuals will not have a long-lasting marriage while the divorce process will be a lot messier when both sides don't agree to end their relationship in a healthy manner. In a nutshell, the element of mutual agreement plays an important role in both marriage and divorce.

Furthermore, marriage and divorce are similar in terms of involving legal paperwork or documentation for it to be official. A husband and wife can only be declared as officially married or obtain a marital status once they have registered with the National Registration Department. This also applies for those who are filing for a divorce. Both require individuals to go through a series of procedures and approvals from higher-level officials before the documentation is authorized. Having successfully obtaining the legal document, spouses are eligible of receiving certain benefits, privileges or claims of ownership. For example, a divorce is able to have custody over his or her children if it is found that the other parent in incapable of fulfilling this responsibility. A legal document upholds the rights and presents the breach of agreement among two individuals. Therefore, involving legal paperwork is one characteristic that both marriage and divorce have in common.

In conclusion, marriage and divorce are different in what the two processes symbolize whereas similar through aspects of the involvement of two individuals and requires legal paperwork. In the community we live in today, divorce cases or failed marriages have seen a steady increase over the past decade. Nevertheless, we, the society as a whole, and especially married couples ought to be mindful of the causes of failed marriages and work together to overcome the problem. In this way, married individuals will better appreciate the unbreakable bond they committed themselves to when they joined hands on their wedding day and lean to devote their lives to each other to the fullest.

(567 words)

Verdict from Ms. Parveen (aka my English lecturer):

- a very good attempt

- glad challenge taken; good piece of work