Analysis Of 'The Ghost Boy And This Railroad Changed America'

“Thousands of workers from China helped build America’s Transcontinental Railroad” (Lewis). Kenneth Oppel and Kristin Lewis are both authors of two great stories with different aspects of America’s Transcontinental Railroad. Kenneth Oppel is the author of “The Ghost Boy”, a story about a fourteen year old boy named Luke is traveling on a train with his father. He happens to stumble upon a ghost; a victim to the making of the Transcontinental Railroad. Kristen Lewis is the author of an informational piece pertaining to America’s Transcontinental Railroad. Within the story, there is an abounding amount of facts about the making, background information, and effects of the Transcontinental Railroad. “The Ghost Boy” and “This Railroad Changed America” have many similarities and differences, such as the mood created by the setting, and …show more content…
One similarity between “The Ghost Boy” and “This Railroad Changed America” is how both stories revolve around the making of the Transcontinental Railroad. Both stories make many mentions of the making of the Transcontinental Railroad, which leads me to believe that the making of the Transcontinental Railroad is what is similar between these two passages. In “The Ghost Boy”, Luke discovers a ghost who contributed to the making of the Transcontinental Railroad and sadly died during the explosions that were necessary for the Transcontinental Railroad to be built. An example is, “‘You worked on the railroad,’ he whispers to the ghost boy…’Is that what happened to you?’ Luke asks. ‘You died in a blast?’”(Oppel 7). This quote supports my claim because in this quote Luke is understanding how the ghost boy came to be in his present state. He recognizes that the ghost boy worked on the railroad and died due to a blast from an explosion. Similarity, “This Railroad Changed America” has an abounding amount of information and facts about the making of the Transcontinental