KEY: Short Story Analysis of "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh"
Title: “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh”
Author: Ray Bradbury
Famous for writing science fiction, especially for the novel Fahrenheit 451.
Setting General Time: Civil War (1860- 1864)
Specific Time: April, begins at midnight and lasts for about 30 min. the night before a battle
General place: the South, Tennessee Specific place: battle site, near the church at Shiloh, by Owl Creek
Protagonist: Joby, the drummer boy (we don’t know which side of the battle he is on)
Conflict Internal or external? Internal Man versus self
Antagonist: Joby’s fear of battle, his lack of belief that he will survive due to his feelings
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peach pit “struck once like panic” (comparing the startling sound of the pit hitting the drum to the panic the sound created in the boy’s imagination) p5
3. Soldiers’ whispering “was like a natural element” (comparing the combined whispering of all the soldiers to the sound of a great wind approaching p5
3. “this drum which was worse than a toy” (comparing drum’s effectiveness as a weapon to a toy) p6
4. “him lying small here, no more than a toy himself”
The second phase of the Battle of Shiloh starts as reinforcements from General Buell’s Army of the Ohio and a unit of Grant’s own reserve division joined the Union Army now positioned at Pittsburg Landing. These reinforcements added over 22,500 men to the Union lines13 bringing the total number of Union forces to over 45,000, which is more than they had on 6 April, the first day of fighting.14 On April 7, General Grant renewed the fighting with an aggressive counteract.15 Greatly outnumbered (Confederate forces now around 25,000) and disorganized the Confederate forces now under General Beauregard fought hard but eventually had to retreat to back Corinth.16 The second phase of the Battle of Shiloh was won by General Grant and his Union forces due to two main reasons. The first, Union troop numbers greatly outnumbered their enemy, over 45,000 to 25,000 respectively. And secondly, the reinforcements received by General Grant had not fought the day before and were fresh and excited to fight, unlike the exhausted remaining Confederate troops.17 This was the bloodiest battle fought on American soil up to that point, with 23,746 casualties (Union: 13,047; Confederate: 10,699).18 The Union lost more men but claimed the victory because the Confederate Army retreated back to Corinth, Mississippi.
In the second stanza the distinctive experience of power is present. The use of the technique of imagery and emotive words “to pluck them from the shallows and bury them in burrows’ tells us that the soldiers were strong, loyal and had enough power within a degree to assist fellow soldiers. The use of personification to create sound “sob and clubbing of the gunfire” This leads the audience to understand what the soldiers were up against without even directly saying it. The imagery visually shows the scene in their
Who is the antagonist, or the person who causes the conflict for the protagonist? What is he like?
There are several characters in this book, including both adults and children, that demonstrate integrity and/or social and political responsibility. These dynamic characters include, Mariatu, Marie, Mohamed, Yabom, Kadi, and Salieu. These characters have a positive change throughout the memoir, The Bite of the Mango, and they learn from their experiences in the civil war to strengthen their character.
In Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, characters such as Paul and his friends become indifferent to shocking elements of war through constant exposure to them. For example, the characters are unconcerned about the dangers of the front because they are accustomed to being on the front. In another instance, Paul’s friends show no emotions when they witness snipers killing enemy soldiers. Also, Kat finds the unusual effects of mortar shells amusing. These examples prove that through war, characters of the book have become indifferent to things that they would normally find shocking.
A main trend seen throughout the book is that each soldier carried something very important with them, this object, or idea, whatever it be, helped the soldiers cope with the dangers and fears that the war brought upon them.
In the short story "Shiloh" written by Bobbie Ann Mason, she expresses a theme stating that taking life for granted causes individuals to lose sight of what is important and how people become blinded by everyone and everything around them. Emotions take a big toll on the way a person handles a situation and people do not necessarily compartmentalize in order to make the right decision with ease. There are various characters represented throughout the story ranging from dynamic to round characters. Norma Jean and Leroy Moffitt are the antagonist and protagonist, both of them are at war with each other. Situational irony occurs when Leroy arrives home and continues to stay home after being involved in a truck accident at work. Norma Jean is
1. “In any war story, especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen. What seems to happen becomes its own happening and has to be told the way. “ (71)
From the creation of harmonies to singing to instruments, music has been an abstract form of human expression. Although an auditory collection of pitches and volumes, musicians can manipulate the same notes and bring them alive for their audiences. The true emotion and energy that’s felt in music really comes from the player as feelings are transferred to and through the listener. This interaction between performer and the house is catharsis, the complete release of strong repressed emotions. Thanks to the musician, music has the ability to grasp people and cause them to sense emotions and feelings without lyrics or images even being necessary. Although it’s believed we can only hear with our ears, something about music makes it emotionally if not physically tangible. In James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues,” a narrator certainly unaware of the impact of music invites himself to experience jazz for the first time. Baldwin uses the final scene of his story to argue that music has an effect on those who are able to experience it. Baldwin does this in one single moment by letting the fixed, practical minded, “well-intentioned” narrator experience catharsis from jazz as his growing, free-spirited brother communicates with him through jazz.
Ishmael Beah is described as a pre-teen, with a love of rap and hip-hop music. He finishes as a drug-addicted killing machine, out avenging the death of his entire family. Before being rescued by a United Nations Program, and eventually fleeing to New York for rehabilitation, it is a tragic and harrowing tale that gives substance to the term ‘Boy Soldier’, that isn’t really understood in most cases. Ishmael gives a gentle portrayal of his life, before the war reached his small village and forever changed his life. Abruptly he becomes fugitive fleeing for his life and eventually into a corrupted teen.
Drummer Boys played a valuable role in the war. They supported the troops by: 1) completing camp chores to free the men for more difficult tasks, and 2) They played duty calls and signals to tell the soldiers what to do during combat and played marching music to boost troop morale. 3) They helped sustain order and discipline. The drummer boys were from the thirteen colonies. They were often enlisted by their parents or if they were a slave by their master. Some slaves volunteered so that they could earn their freedom. The drummer boys also enlisted because they were very patriotic. The age range of the drummer boys was sixteen to twenty although there younger drummers who were twelve to fourteen years old.
“Which in the field developed into the finest thing that arose out of the war - comradeship,” (Remarque 27). Throughout the war, soldiers depend on each other to be able to live another day. Through small acts of kindness, sorrow from loss, and never leaving one behind emerges the theme of comradeship, which is clearly represented in the novel, All Quiet On The Western Front.”
Have you ever thought of being on the run from an intense army ? Well , in this speech from Chief Joseph , he explains how is army has been killed and majority of his people have ran away to the hills because of the cold weather upon them. He is also worried because the young men now have to step up and lead the chiefs in an innovative direction. This has put him in a heartfelt situation where he now wants to put a cease to fighting , and find his children for the good of his sake. In contrast , he uses three rhetorical devices to release his thoughts and feelings from the outcome from fighting.
feel isolated and afraid. Moreover, the narrator of “The Pit and the Pendulum” also experiences
The speaker lets the reader know right away about the reality of war. The invincible, fearless soldiers that are envisioned by the reader are quickly transformed into