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Thursday, March 4, 2021

Literary Essay - The Drummer Boy of Shiloh

 


Share your literary essay with the rest of the students that chose this short story.  Take some time to read 2 or 3 other essays.  Comment on them.  Your comment should be about something you noticed them doing well from our lessons.  For example, "You did a really good job explaining your evidence

2 comments:

  1. The drummer boy of shiloh is a short story by Ray Bradbury that takes place on a april night the night before the war. What makes this story unique is it is the night before war and the little drummer boy shiloh is scared to go in to war the next day. And the general is trying to talk to him and tell him nothing will happen.. This short story mainly focuses on the drummer boy shiloh and the general . The author is try to teach us that enjoy the time you have now because the next day it might be gone. Although it could be take one day at a time this shows more of enjoy the day you have now because the next day might be gone.
    The night before the war shiloh is very scared and he is crying because he is scared what is going to happen tomorrow. The general said ¨you want to cry some more, go a head. I did the say last night¨ this shows that they are scared of tomorrow because they dont know whats going to happen to them but they are going to get through it but shioli is still scared. So the general talks more to him about it to try to make him not as scared and also this shows that it is okay to cry sometimes
    The fear shiloh has about war has him very nerso and not wanting to do it. But the general is telling him everything will be okay and all he has to do is drum the drum and that's how they will get through the war. And nothing will happen to him because he is just drumming his drum. But the little boy is scared to see the others get hurt.


    The night before all night he was cry he was just a little boy that ran away from home 3 weeks ago and join because he had nowhere to go. The gnarly said to the little boy that he was crying the night before and it's okay to cry. But tomorrow he just has to drum the drum to keep the men alive this shows that he was just put in to it so he is going to be scared because he doesn't know what will happen. But this also shows that it is okay to be scared

    At the end of the story they said goodnight the drummer boy laid down but not able to see where the general went and began to go to sleep on the april night close to 1878 close by tennessee so at the end he is not as scared as he was before but he is still kinda nervous i think this shows us don't be scared to to do anything and don't hold back and also take the day as your last day because you don't know when it's going to be gone

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  2. “Drummer Boy of Shiloh” is a short story by Ray Bradbury that takes place in April of 1862 the night before the battle of Shiloh or also known as the battle of Pittsburg Landing. The main character is Joby. He is a young soldier but, also the only one to not get a rifle and shield instead he got a drum and two drum sticks because of this Joby is very selfish and being selfish will not get you anywhere in life.

    Some people when they read The Drummer Boy of Shiloh might think that the theme is that Joby doesn’t have empathy for his family. Although I can see this, I think that it’s all about being selfish.

    Joby is very disappointed and selfish about getting the drum and not a rifle. He is blind to what he does have and later into the story he realizes that he is very important. Joby finds out he is important when the general comes over to him when they were all going to sleep. First the general was just asking him how long he’s been in the army but, then he could tell Joby was disappointed that he did not get a rifle he started telling him how important he is to the army. It turns out Joby is the most important one there. He’s “The heart of the army” Joby was even told that if the general died in battle he would take over for those duties as well as being the drummer boy. Just listening Joby was amazed and realized how selfish he was all for nothing.

    The figurative language in the story is very important because Ray Bradbury was very good at using repetition and bringing the attention where he wanted it. One time he used repetition to point out how young the boy was which could tie into being selfish because it is a little more common to be selfish when you are younger. Another time when he used repetition he was pointing out how much just Joby keeping a good beat helps the men fighting so much with their blood flow and other things. The last time he used repetition was when he repeated solemn I think means he was talking about the seriousness of everyone at the time.

    A different form of figurative language he used is he used a metaphor. He said that Joby is “The heart of the army”. Which also shows how important Joby is to the army. Joby is like the main beat that keeps the blood flowing good throughout all of the soldiers.

    One thing that could affect how Joby feels is that he is really scared about tomorrow because who wouldn’t be there is a possibility he could die. He doesn’t even get a weapon to fight with but, what he doesn’t get is he is just as important as the soldiers that do have guns obviously his role wouldn’t win the war by itself but, with them together they have a better chance because as those soldiers are fighting he controls the mood.

    “If he, Joby, beat slow tomorrow, the heart would beat slow in the men. They would lag by the wayside. They would drowse in the fields on their muskets. They would sleep forever, after that, in those same fields, their hearts slowed by a drummer boy and stopped by enemy lead.” This sentence shows just how important the beat Joby does with his drum affects the soldiers fighting.

    In conclusion Joby was being very selfish for nothing all because he didn’t get exactly what he wanted. By the end of the story he realized that there was no point in being selfish because he is very important to the army and has one of the biggest roles for example if the general dies that would be Joby’s job now. Ray Bradbury wrote The Drummer Boy of Shiloh to show us that being selfish won’t get you anywhere in life.

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