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Common Core ELA5th GradeReading: Literature

RL.5.3: Compare and Contrast Characters

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3 · Cluster: Key Ideas and Details.

All 43 5th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).

Common Core State Standards, Grade 5, Reading: Literature · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RL.5.3 Means in Plain English

Fifth graders set two or more characters, settings or events side by side and say how they are alike and how they differ, proving each point with a detail. The richest evidence is often how characters treat each other: one rushes in, the other follows to keep her safe.

In 4th grade (RL.4.3) students described one character, setting or event in depth. Fifth grade puts two together and asks for the comparison. In 6th grade (RL.6.3) students follow how characters respond and change as the plot moves through its episodes toward a resolution.

RL.5.3 I Can Statements

  • I can explain how two characters are alike and different.
  • I can support each comparison with a specific detail from the story.
  • I can use how characters treat each other to compare them.

RL.5.3 Worked Example

Two friends, one dock, one sign. What each of them does with the sign is the comparison.

Read the Story
Nadia was on the end of the dock with her shoes off, counting down from three, before Joon had finished reading the sign.“It says no swimming without a buddy,” Joon called.Nadia jumped anyway, came up gasping, and laughed so hard she swallowed lake water.Joon sighed, folded his socks into his shoes, and climbed down the ladder one rung at a time, so that she would have a buddy after all.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: How are Nadia and Joon alike and different? Use how they act toward each other.
Not Yet“Nadia is brave and Joon is scared.”Two labels and no details. “Scared” misreads Joon, since nothing says he is afraid, and the answer skips how the two treat each other.
Meets the Standard“Nadia acts first and thinks later: she is counting down ‘before Joon had finished reading the sign.’ Joon checks the rules and warns her. But they end up alike, both in the water, because Joon climbs down ‘so that she would have a buddy after all.’ He keeps the rule by joining her, which shows he looks out for her.”Each difference has its detail, it finds a likeness too, and it uses the way the two interact to explain who Joon is.
Question Stems to Use
How does each character react to the same moment?What does one character do that the other never would?How are they alike, even though they act differently?How does one character’s choice change what the other does?Which detail shows that difference best?

Common Mistakes with RL.5.3

Traits with no proof

“Nadia is brave. Joon is careful.”

Try this: Require one detail from the text for every trait, written beside it on the organizer before students start the paragraph.

Only the differences

A Venn diagram with an empty middle

Try this: Fill the middle of the Venn diagram first, then the sides, so students hunt for what the characters share before what divides them.

Two separate descriptions

A paragraph on Nadia, then a paragraph on Joon, never both in one sentence

Try this: Give frames like “While Nadia…, Joon…” and “Both of them…” so every sentence holds the two characters at once.

Where RL.5.3 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.4.3Describe one character, setting or event in depth, using thoughts, words and actions.
AlongsideRL.5.9Compare two stories of the same genre on a shared theme.W.5.9Write the comparison with evidence. W.5.9 names this exact task as its example.
Comes NextRL.6.3Describe how a plot unfolds in episodes and how characters respond or change along the way.

Practice RL.5.3

Quick Check

  1. What does the sign at the lake say?
  2. What is Nadia doing before Joon finishes reading the sign?
  3. Why does Joon climb into the water?

RL.5.3: Other Names

RL.5.3CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.