Comparison/Contrast

Paragraph #2
Every day, we make decisions based on comparisons. In literature class, you have read
two survival stories. Is a made-up story (fiction) really as good as a real-life story (nonfiction)? In class, you will make charts that illustrate similarities and differences in these
stories. Then, from your charts, you will select the material that you will use in your
paragraph. Through comparing and/or contrasting these two books, you will reveal through
your paragraph the book you like better Hatchet or Lost Trail.

Student Sample
Hatchet or Lost Trail
In literature class, we recently read two books a fictionalized survival story called Hatchet and a real-life survival story
called Lost Trail. A close look at the stories will reveal if a fictionalized story is as good as a real-life story. One obvious
difference between Donns story (Lost Trail) and Brians story (Hatchet) is the amount of days they were lost. Donn was
lost in the Maine woods for nine days, but Brian was lost in the Canadian wilderness for fifty-four days. Another more
significant difference was how the main characters reacted to their situations. Donns only plan was to walk to civilization;
however, Brian knew that he had to make a shelter, prepare hunting and fishing gear, and build a raft to get to the plane.
With all of this in mind, I think that the fictionalized story of Hatchet is better because the author used a lot more description
in describing Brians situations. I got a more vivid picture of what Brian had to endure.