Comparison of The Perfect Family, by Alice Hoffman, The Sanctuary of School, by Lynda Barry, Dog Lab, by Claire McCarthy, and Education by Jake WernerWhat we learn at home, at school, from our peers, and from entertainment can have great effects throughout our lives. There is no such thing as a perfect family, human being or society, but we are capable of living our lives in peace and harmony. What we see on television may simulate a perfect family, but of course not everything we want to see is true. Not everyone can have the life everyone wants. Reading the essays “The Perfect Family” by Alice Hoffman, “The Sanctuary of School” by Lynda Barry, “Dog Lab” by Claire McCarthy, and “Education” by Jake Werner, a realization occurred. These authors arrive at comparable results. Two authors have similar writing styles while the others had contrasting styles. Alice Hoffman's "The Perfect Family" was about how she faced the adversity of being raised in a single-parent household. She never gave up believing her mother and herself, which is why she is today. Alice Hoffman had a simple strategy for writing her essay. In her writing style, she included many details in describing her childhood story. It was from the introductory paragraph that I thought this story was going to be descriptive in the sense of trying to compel us into sympathizing with her and other families. Additionally, she gave images such as "Roses were growing by the front door...We had glass bottles filled with lightning bugs and brand new swings in the backyard, and softball games at the dusk." (pg --) The type of technique used to write her essay gave her a better understanding of what she was trying to do. She was setting the table. Additionally, she gave a brief history of how marriages were supposed to work, how rare divorces were in those days, and what type of employment a woman should pursue. This technique was useful in her essay because if she did not include this story, perhaps the reader would not understand the point of writing this essay, or might be confused as to what is happening. Historical context can greatly help the reader understand what is happening and can answer some questions about why this essay is being written..