Compare the story "On the Roundabout" by Bernard Maclaverty to "The Sniper" by O'Flaherty in terms of point of view, setting, plot, characters, tone, mood, and style.

"On the Roundabout" is told from a first-person objective point of view. This means that the narrator is a participant in the story's events, the narrator uses the pronoun "I", and the narrator tells the story after it has happened. We can tell this from the first lines of the story when the narrator uses the past tense: "I suppose it's about doing something without thinking. But it was nothing really. Anybody'd've done the same. We were driving back into Belfast." "The Sniper," however, is written in the third-person limited omniscient point of view. This means that the narrator is not a participant in the story, does not use the pronoun "I", and provides the thoughts and feelings of one character in particular; in this case, it is the protagonist, the sniper.
As far as setting, "On the Roundabout" was published in 2006 and takes place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, during "The Troubles," the era from 1968-1998 when loyalists and republicans fought violently over the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. The narrator states specifically that this story took place during the early 1970s. "The Sniper," on the other hand, was written in 1923 and takes place during the Battle of Dublin in the first weeks of the Irish Civil War (which lasted fewer than eleven months). This war was fought between the Irish nationalists and Irish republicans over the Anglo-Irish Treaty, a contract that established Ireland as a self-governing free state.
In terms of plot and character, in "On the Roundabout," a family is out driving one day when they see a violent attack perpetrated by members of the Ulster Defence Association on a hitchhiker. The father, who narrates, pulls the car over while his wife pulls the victim into the car. They take him to the hospital, but no one wants to record their names because they understand that the family could be targeted by the UDA. The father, his wife, Anne, their two children (Sean and Kate), the Presbyterian hitchhiker, and the hospital officials who do not want to take the family's information are the only characters. In "The Sniper," a young Republican sniper attempts to stay alive as he is shot at and takes shots at an enemy sniper across the street. Ultimately, he shoots and kills this other sniper, and he then goes to look at his face. He then learns that the sniper is actually his own brother. He is the main (and, debatably, only) character. However, we might also consider the other sniper, who he shoots and kills in the end, as another character since they do interact (at least, with their guns).
Mood describes the story's emotional atmosphere, the feeling it is meant to create, and the mood of "On the Roundabout" is dark due to the violence. Ultimately, it ends on a note of some optimism because the victim of the violence lives and reaches out to thank the good Samaritans that saved him. The mood of "The Sniper," on the other hand, is much darker. Rather than saving someone, the main character kills another human being—only to learn that the supposed enemy he killed is actually his own brother. He feels some remorse prior to learning his victim's identity, and we can only imagine the horror he must feel upon learning who the other man is. Therefore, the mood of this story is much more tragic and ironic.
Tone describes the way the author feels about the story's subject. The author seems approving of the way the father behaves in "On the Roundabout" because the innocent hitchhiker lives and tries to reach out to thank his saviors. He also seems condemnatory of the UDA, a group that performs such violence and then laughs about it. In "The Sniper," the author seems likewise condemnatory or judgmental of the entire conflict, because even a "win" for the Republican sniper constitutes a "loss" for the sniper and his family. In other words, there is no way to win in this war because people are literally fighting their own brothers.
Style refers to the actual writing of the story. How does the writing sound? What is the diction like? What is the syntax like? In "On the Roundabout," the diction is very conversational, and the syntax (sentence structure) affirms this. When the hitchhiker tells the protagonist that he is a Presbyterian (and not a Catholic, the group actually targeted by the UDA), the father says, "A Presbyterian? Even he thinks it's funny. Jesus." By varying the syntax, the narrator seems to speak even more conversationally. Further, statements made by others in the story are delivered in indirect discourse—without quoting them—and told by the narrator in his own words. This adds to the informal feel. In "The Sniper," on the other hand, the diction seems somewhat more elevated than in "On the Roundabout." There are several descriptions that include visual imagery that set the scene in a more artistic style. Sentences are full, though syntax is often kept simple as though to echo the thoughts of the sniper. The following sentence uses the same simple structure over and over: "He was eating a sandwich hungrily. He had eaten nothing since morning. He had been too excited to eat." Just as a soldier goes through his routines—just as a soldier tries to be objective and unemotional—so too does the language and syntax of this story strive to be objective and unemotional. This makes it feel a little more formal and even detached, whereas the style of "On the Roundabout" feels more immediate and close.