The plot in both these stories is a murder in the detective Genre but the stories still vary and are very different one is in court with no detective as such, except the lawyers in the court and the one the C.W. there is as in a traditional detective story, a detective. Also in one the murderer is convicted and in the other there isn’t a convicted murderer but one twin does get killed but whether he was guilty or not- it is not known. In one, fingertips find the murderer and in the other he is tried to find by witnesses and evidence.
In both stories there is a murder victim (Mrs Parker and Sheri Ely) and the suspect/s (The Adam’s Twins and Adrian Brown) and in one there is a detective (Maureen Mc Martin) and in the other witnesses (Mrs Salmon and other minor witnesses.) In the C.D. there is also a counsel and the reporter (writer). In the C.W. there is also the other significant character the phone answerer who’s name is not revealed.
You can see these characters in each story are similar but not the same. Many of them are conventions that you would find in a Traditional detective genre story.
The narrative technique used in each story is different in the C.D. it is written in
1ST person by the narrator who is in the court as it is evident that he is a reporter or journalist. He is also very one sided towards the Adams brothers and is shocked about the twin. He then uses his writing to influence the reader how bad the twins were. ‘It was the strangest murder trial I ever attended ‘this shows it is written in the 1ST person. ‘He might as well have committed the crime in broad daylight’ this proves the writer is biased and thinks he is certainly guilty. Whereas in the C.W. it is written in the 3RD person who is telling the story of the murder of Sheri Ely. The author isn’t biased towards the characters or the story he just tells it as it is and it is quite unprofessional not factual. This is because the author isn’t a character in the case. ‘Jason re-chased down every lead’ shows it is in 3RD person. ‘He did the law for Sheri Ely’ proves it is quite normal and not all factual. It also shows Jason doesn’t like the Law because he thinks it killed Sheri.
The narrative technique is different because one writer is writing and using that to convince the reader that the Adams twins were guilty as he is there but the other writer isn’t a character and is just there to tell the story but unlike the other story he tells it in a very unbiased way – just telling it as it is. It is strange how the narrative technique is very different yet these stories are very similar and they still have the same Genre because the conventions are the same but flexible to change.
The setting of each story varies one is set in England and the other in the U.S.A. The C.D. is in England in Peckham, London which is a real place-the story gives a lot of detail about the area the main part of the story is when the trial is on in court. 'Was not strictly speaking in Peckham' this quote tells you the area is Peckham which we know is in London. 'It was the strangest murder trial I ever attended' also proves that the main setting was in court for the trial. This story gives a setting which stays the same and the C.W. is a story which the setting changes and it doesn’t give a lot of information about the setting it only happens to say where it is by the word 'Columbia' From which you can tell it is in the U.SA. also it is written in an American way by the words used to describe the area. 'The call was made to Vancouver, on the other side of Columbia' this shows that the C.W. was set in America and proves the state is Columbia. Sometimes it is set in Jason's house and other times it is at the police station or the post office or court.
These two stories set their settings very differently and they aren't that similar as they are set in different countries and in C.D the setting is the same and in the C.W it changes depending on the story. A reason for this may be because the C.D. is in a much shorter length of time and the C.W. is over a couple of weeks.
The language used in each story is at the extremes one is very formal and official with lots of facts which shows even more the author is a journalist or reporter this is in the C.D. 'was not strictly speaking in Peckham' shows how precise and formally the C.D. is written. In the C.W. the language is not formal for the exception of when the writer talks about the law in which he uses quite technical language. ‘But he had been hauled in for Tax Evasion' shows and proves the sometimes formal law language the author uses. But 'Jason wanted to beg off' shows the other day to day not so formal language used sometimes.
The two stories are similar in language as they are detective stories and the detective language is used in the same way. But whereas C.D. is always formal as it is a official report the C.W. changes according to what is going on and where the story is set at that moment e.g. when it is in the Police Station Jason is talking to a detective so the language used is formal.
Both stories are detective stories but they are detective in different ways the similarities are- because they are written as a short story they can't be described as a 'detective novel' because they are short- that applies to both of them. They are both in the detective Genre though even though the genre is written in different ways. I T is obvious that the C.W. is more of a traditional detective story for the reason- it actually has an official detective who works as a detective. In the C.D. there isn't an official detective there are just lawyers who have a similar role in the story to a detective in C.W. Therefore it is evident that the C.W. fits more into the Genre of 'detective novel' The C.D. isn’t like a traditional detective story because it is actually in court and there is not a Detective trying to find clues to the murder outside court.
To conclude my comparative essay I will sum up the essay. Out of the two books I enjoyed most the Case for the Defence because it was more interesting and had a twist with a dramatic end with the twin being found out then one of them dying. I also feel that the Call Waiting was good but in a different way because it was so mysterious and it left you guessing as well. I was also good the way it was written so you guess the mysterious phone caller was the murderer's wife. I think the author's used the conventions of the genre well to display it was a detective story because they both have the conventions of a detective story yet they are used differently so they are totally different stories. The authors have used the conventions with effect as this is how they appear to have the same conventions as a detective story would but still they are different.