Comparison of Two Short Stories

Introduction

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The story Sun-Powered Car is about Malcolm a newspaper reporter in a TV station; despite twenty-five years of working he has not received any promotion this makes him depressed about the job he is doing. As he walks into a restaurant for dinner he gets the site of Ned and two of his sons who are driving an old car with a solar panel on top. Malcolm talks to talks to the waitress about Ned inventing the solar-powered car. Malcolm is thinking that this was an amazing idea and could hit the news headlines (Robert, 122). It is only after he talks to Ned that he is told that the car is not solar-driven but his son pedaled. Whereas, Homework is about Jason a school boy who is constantly arguing with his parents whether he should do his homework or not, Jason complains that the homework is boring while the parents insist that it is important that he does the homework for it will impact his life positively. A discussion comes up on who of Jason's parents had a tough upbringing. When the argument ceases Jason's parents order snacks and food from the robot servant they then set up hologram play. In the end Jason gives in to the parents' demands grounding and yells he accepts to do the homework. He fixes a cable to his head and the homework is downloaded to the brain.

This essay compares and contrasts the setting, point of view and the themes in the two short stories.

Setting: The short story Sun-powered car the actions are taking place in a small town at dinner. Malcolm stops to have lunch where he meets the farmer Ned and also the waitress Helen. Whereas, the action in homework takes place in their house and Jason's father and mother get mad at him for failing to do his homework. The two stories have some similarities in setting. Sun-powered car story is most probably in our time zone but the homework story may be in the future, this is because at the end of the story Jason is working on his homework by downloading the work to his brain for two minutes while parents are watching a hologram and being served with snacks by a robot servant. The settings are slightly different because in Homework there is an internal conflict in the house, whereas in Sun powered car the action takes place in an outside setting where Malcolm meet some strangers.

The point of view: The short story sun-powered car is written in the third person same as the story homework. The stories are easy to compare because both of the stories remain in one point of view. The author is telling from Malcolm's point of view in the first story and in the second story it is told in Jason's point of view. There is someone telling us about the thoughts and experiences, even though we hear the stories from Jason's and Malcolm's point of view.

Theme: Both of the short stories have related themes, in sun-powered car the theme is a sun-powered car which is special. It describes how little things can be discovered in regular working days and there positive implications. The short story Homework's main theme is about the boy's homework. The main theme is how the family in the future lives with the irony when Jasons parents stating that it is much harder a child in their young ages when they are sitting watching a hologram play and getting served by a robot, they are actually lazy. Jason also talks that it is harder to be a child in his time too, he complains about his homework when all that he only has to do is to insert a cable into his head and wait for few minutes while his work is being downloaded in his brain, which seems lazier and so the theme can be the extent of laziness we may end as in the future.

The Characters: Malcolm the main character in Sun-Powered Car is depressed and has given up his dream of sitting on anchor chair. Ned though a farmer is credited with inventing a unique car. Hellen the waiter knows Neds very well.

Jason the main character in Homework he does not want to do his homework and prefers to play with his dog. Jasons father is mad because the son cannot do the homework while the mother is just complaining about the same issue. While Malcolm seems to be hardworking in Sun Powered Car Jason and his father are lazy and don't like working. The secondary characters Jason's mother and Ned are a bit passive though Ned speaks at the end of the story more while Jasonsmother at the beginning. Thereare similarities in the aspects of conflicts. In the Sun-powered car there is aconflict between Malcolm and himself and his job when he doesn't get promoted. In the short story Homework the conflict is about Jason(Helen, 55). He does not want to do his homework, does not listen to his parents when they tell him to do the same.

Resolution: Malcolm's day in Sun Powered Car turns out to be better than he had anticipated because he gets a new story that he can use. The car is not solar-driven, the fact that his son will be trampling on pedals makes it fancy. The ending is good since Ned is less depressed at the story ends. The resolution in Homework is that Jason has to do his homework while the mother and the father will carry on with their stuff. The twist comes when Jason has to download homework to his brain, yet he considers it terrible. The discussion by parents about childhood upbringing ends up us.

The Dialogue: there are a lot of similarities in the dialogue used in both of the stories as they talk directly to one another. In the sun-powered car dialogue is used when Malcolm orders, when Malcolm talks to Ned and when the waitress talks. Malcolm in the sun-powered car talks a lot; this is to make the story lively and not boring. In Homework the story is mostly dialogue. Jason and his father converse a lot about the homework and they are comparing how it is to be a kid in their time, and comparing it with when Jason's father was a child.

Works cited

Robert B. R, 2009 the classical revenge pg 122

Helen S, 2007HOMEWORK