Compare And Contrast Essay

War can make an everlasting impact on anyone's life. Two stories demonstrate the effect of war through two different perspectives. The fictional short story "The Address", by Marga
Minco displays a period of time after the war, whereas the nonfiction "Japanese Air and
Submarine Attack Sinks HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse", by Cecil Brown explores a setting during the war. These two literary works share similarities as well as differences. To start with, the two pieces of writing share the same theme of war. In "The Address", the war takes place in the past and a woman and her mother have an acquaintance that takes care of their belongings during then. "For the first time since the war I was walking again through familiar districts" (37), The woman returns after the war and searches for the home of her mother's acquaintance to reclaim her possessions. In Cecil Brown's story, the war takes place in the present. Brown describes what he goes through as he experiences the sinking of a British warship from being attacked by the Japanese. To continue, the narrator in both stories faces a personal challenge. Throughout "The Address", the woman that tries to reclaim her cherished belongings is forced to forget about them. When she goes to the house of her mother's acquaintance (Mrs. Dorling) for the second time, she sees her beloved possessions placed out of context. Suddenly, she chooses to never return and to disremember her and her mother's items.
Therefore, she faces the personal challenge of having to forget all the memories and value that those objects hold. Similar to Cecil Brown's report, where he also faces a personal challenge, but of survival. He jumps off the sinking ship into the oil in the water and is forced to swim in it. He faces the difficulty to survive. Finally, another similarity that these works share is the point of view they are written in. "The Address" is written in first person, "I was in a room which I both

knew and didn't know" (38). Likewise, "Japanese and Submarine Attack Sinks HMS Prince of
Wales and HMS Repulse", is told by Cecil Brown in first person, for example, "I have no vision of what is ahead, no concrete thoughts of how to save myself" (370). These pieces of writing may share similarities, however, there are also some differences.
Firstly, the tone in the two stories is different. Overall, "The Address" overall has a positive tone, unlike Cecil Brown's eyewitness report. In Marga Minco's short story, the narrator looks forward to reclaim her possessions, however, when she sees that they have lost their value, she decides to forget about them. She forgets about her items and moves on with her life, hence, a positive tone throughout the story. On the other hand, in Brown's report there is a negative tone present due to the way he shares about other lives being lost, his struggle to survive and the war setting.
Another difference is the tense the works are written in. "The Address" is written in past tense, "Without paying too much attention to the road I had arrived at the

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