"A Glow in the Dark” by Gary Paulsen and “Up the Slide” by Jack London are two stories with similar and contrasting aspects. The mood of both stories help the author develop and construct the theme. Although the similarities, the stories are different and construct the theme in different ways. “A Glow in the Dark” by Gary Paulsen is a story about a character who was taking his sled of dogs for a run through rough and muddy ground when he encountered a strange glow. While he was running his dogs stopped out of of nowhere and he realized it was because of a light coming from nearby. It was a glow in the dark, and it was eerie. He made many assumptions about what it was and he began scaring himself. He thought it could be “ghosts and goblins” or anything having to do with death (A Glow in the Dark 3). However it turned out to simply be an old rotten stump that was glowing. It has a theme that is very clear, sometimes …show more content…
He did not expect the trip to be difficult at all, he “expected to be back in half an hour” but going down the cliff proved to be dangerous (Up the Slide 1). When the weather threatened his survival, he continued to try to get down from the cliff but was struggling. “He had slipped half a dozen times” but continued to try and get down from the dangerou slope (Up the Slide 3). After continuously trying to find a way down and passing several obstacles he made it down safely. He earned a huge profit for the firewood he grabbed. The theme is always be prepared for the worst and never give up. If Clay was prepared for this situation and thought it through, he would not have been in the situation. However, he never gave up and that helped him get out. The mood is very suspenseful because Clay was in extreme danger. When he had finally managed to get to a safe place, the suspense made the reader feel