Moose Creek vs. Toy Story

{An adaptation of a comparative essay... from my first semester of college, circa 2010.}

I grew up in a small community called Moose Creek, Alaska. This community consists of about seven hundred people. Moose Creek is about a mile from Eielson Air Force Base and about six miles from the city of North Pole.

For one of my first college assignments I was instructed to write about where I am from and to compare it to another world, place, or community. I racked my brain and could not think of anything that was exactly the same or opposite of Moose Creek. After thinking for awhile, and watching a favorite childhood movie, I decided to compare and contrast Moose Creek to Andy's room, from the movie Toy Story.

There are a few similar things about these two communities. Both Moose Creek and Andy's room have lots of 'people', or citizens. Obviously, Andy does not have seven hundred or so toys, but the toys that he does have fill up his room. The citizens of Moose Creek fill up and populate the majority of the land set aside for this township.

Like most communities, living spaces (homes) are different shapes and sizes. These are not subdivision communities. In Moose Creek, there are apartment buildings belonging to different companies, some large houses, small houses, shacks; almost any shape and size of house can be found. In Andy's room, every toy has a designate place to sleep. 

Another similarity is that citizens of both Moose Creek and Andy's room have to live in close proximity to one another. In Moose Creek, the majority of housing is found in apartment complexes and small homes. In Andy's room, there is only a limited amount of space in which the toys all live.

Naturally, there are also differences between these two communities.   The biggest difference is that the toys in Andy's room are there for the rest of their lives, while most citizens of Moose Creek are only  there for a short time. Most of my neighbors don't stay long. Moose Creek is literally a transitional community. Since a U.S. Air Force base is only a mile away, Moose Creek is the perfect location for apartment buildings and small houses, which are rented out most often to military families that are waiting to be placed in base housing.

Another difference is friendliness and conversation. Citizens of Moose Creek are do not generally talk with, sometimes don't even know, their neighbors. The only time the people talk to one another during the summer. The kids will play together all day, every day, for the entire summer. However, once school starts, and especially throughout the winter months, the children do not play together and adults don't stop to talk with one another. In Andy's room, however, everyone talks and plays together regularly.

Andy's room seems very loving and close knit. Moose Creek seems the opposite, being closed off, cold, and perhaps introverted.

Love,
D. J. Lathrop