What would you look for when comparing two characters?

Late for School

Marrah heard the brakes on the bus as she shoveled the rest of her breakfast into her mouth. “You just missed the bus!” Marrah’s mother yelled. “Why can’t you ever be on time?”

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Marrah sighed. She ran upstairs to her room so she could get her backpack, knowing she needed to hurry because her mother would have to take her to school.

“Let’s go, Marrah!” Her mother called from downstairs. “You don’t want to be late for school too!”

Frantic now, Marrah lifted her sheets to look under them before dropping to her knees in front of her bed. She pushed mounds of clothes out of the way as she continued to search for her backpack.

“Marrah!” Her mother called again. She could hear the impatience in her mother’s voice downstairs. She ran out of her room and leaned over the rail.

“I can’t find my backpack!” She cried out.

“You mean this one?” Her mother pulled the bag from the floor beside her.

“Oh,” she replied, her shoulders sagging as she walked down the stairs.

“Let’s go to school, Marrah.” Her mother said with a small smile on her face as they walked out the door.

Do Your Best

Katie stood before the crowd blushing and wringing her hands. She looked out and saw the room full of faces. Some she knew and some she did not. But, they were all here to listen to her. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth but no words came out. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she closed them.

With her eyes closed, she imagined her mother helping her get dressed and ready for tonight. "Just do your best," is what her mother had told her. She opened her eyes and found her mother's smiling face in the crowd. Relaxing, she took another deep breath and started singing. She did not stop until she finished and the crowd was on their feet applauding.

After the show, she found her parents and her friends. They all had wonderful things to say about her song and how proud they were because she kept going even when it seemed like she might give up. She shrugged her shoulders and shared a smile with her mother. "I just did my best," she answered.

How are Katie and Marrah similar?

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

-- W.H. Davies

In the kitchen,
After the aimless

Chatter of the plates,
The murmur of the stoves,

The chuckles of the water pipes,
And the sharp exchanges

Of the knives, forks, and spoons,
Comes the serious quiet

When the sink slowly clears its throat,
And you can hear the occasional rumble

Of the refrigerator’s tummy
As it digests the cold.

How are these two poems similar?