After reading three short stories – A Reasonable Sum by Gordon Korman, School Spirit by Jerry Spinelli, and After the Wedding by Ouida Sebestyen – I have come to the conclusion that they are very different from one another. However, they also have a few similarities. Some elements to compare the stories are tone, point-of-view, use of figurative language, and setting.
             The tone of A Reasonable Sum is clear throughout the entire story. The main character is in his first day of high school, and all of the negative things just pile up on him. It's obvious that the tone of the story is very negative, specifically, towards high school.
             Jerry Spinelli also made the tone of School Spirit very unmistakable. The main character, Arnold, is offered four wishes, three for the benefit of his school, and one for himself. All four wishes are granted and work out extremely well for him. However, he's not satisfied. He realizes that the wishes weren't how things were supposed to be in reality, so he terminates his wishes. He concludes that even though things aren't perfect, he can still take pride in the way things are.
             After the Wedding provides a tone so obvious that you can't argue it if you've read the story. The main conflict of the story is that a couple, Rusty and Jolene, are having trouble in their relationship. It is very obvious that it is a sad tone, because throughout the entire story it shows the demise of their relationship.
             The point-of-view of A Reasonable Sum is very clear, even as early as the first sentence. "Well, you stayed up all night, but today came anyway." That sentence shows that the story is being told by somebody outside of the action. The narrator doesn't refer to any other character's thoughts throughout the story, so it's very clear that the point-of-view of this story is third-person limited.
             School Spirit offers a very unmistakable poi...