So, I had to compare these two stories, “Jack” and “McKinley,” for a project. It was kind of a headache at first, figuring out what to compare and how to do it right.
First off, I read both stories. Yeah, I know, that’s the obvious part, but you gotta really read them, not just skim. I read them once just to get the gist, then again to really understand what’s going on. I took some notes of some points.
Jot Down Notes
- The characters
- The main events
- Where the stories take place
- Any big themes or messages
Then, I started looking for stuff that was similar in both stories. Like, maybe both main characters are adventurous, or they both face some kind of big challenge. I jotted these down, nothing fancy, just a few words to remind me what I found. I also used a simple table to organize my thoughts, with one column for similarities and another for differences.
After that, I looked for differences. This was a bit trickier. Sometimes the differences are obvious, but other times you gotta think a bit more. Like, maybe one story is set in the city and the other in the countryside, or one is about friendship and the other about overcoming fear. I thought about how the authors of each passage may have a different main point and details to support it.
Once I had all my similarities and differences down, I started putting it all together. I decided to use a graphic organizer because it helps to see everything visually. I drew a big Venn diagram – you know, those two overlapping circles. In one circle, I put all the stuff about “Jack,” in the other, all the stuff about “McKinley.” And in the middle, where the circles overlap, I put the stuff that was the same in both stories. I try to make sure I explained clearly how the stories were alike and how they were different, just like compare means to tell how two things are alike and contrast means to tell how two things are different.
I also made sure to talk about the point of view of each story. Like, is it told by one of the characters, or by someone outside the story? That can make a big difference in how you understand what’s going on.
And that’s basically it. It was a bit of work, but once I got into it, it wasn’t so bad. Plus, I learned a lot about how stories work and how to compare them. This kind of analysis really helps you understand the stories better and see how different writers do their thing.
So, next time you gotta compare two stories, don’t sweat it. Just take it step by step, and you’ll do just fine.
