"Cider with Rosie" is an extract taken from an autobiography written by Laurie Lee. Lee recalls the day in his childhood when he first starts schooling in his village. The extract is set in the countryside of 1920's England, in the city of Cloustershire, where the author grew up. "Charles", a short story by Shirley Jackson, also talks about a boy, called Laurie, going to kindergarten for the first time. The setting is modern times in the United States of America. This can be determined through different words used for the same expressions in Britain and America or the difference in their spellings. For example, the British say "biscuits", while the Americans call them "cookies". In America the word "color" is spelled differently from the British's "colour" (with a "u"). Besides the differentiation in language usage, there are other techniques used in literatures that are distinguishable too.
             At the beginning of "Charles", Laurie is excited to go to school on the first day as he forgets to wave his mother goodbye when he sets off to school with an older girl next door. Then he comes back from school and slams the front door open, throws his cap onto the floor and shouts harshly, "Isn't anybody here?" He is no longer the innocent Laurie who used to stay at home. He spills his baby sister's milk and talks rudely to his father at lunch. He claims to learn "nothing" in school except that the teacher spanks a boy named Charles for being rude that day. Then he leaves his chair for a cookie and walks away without getting permission. He ignores his father when his father is calling for him.
             The next day when Laurie returns from school, he says that Charles hit the teacher for making him color with red crayons instead of green. He seems to be very happy with Charles bad behavior. He also makes fun of his father, saying ...