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 !"# Setting $eneral Time% &ivil 'ar (")*+, ")* -

Specific Time% .pril, begins at midnight and lasts for about /+ min# the night before a battle $eneral place% the South, Tennessee Specific place% battle site, near the church at Shiloh, by 0wl &ree1 Protagonist: 2oby, the drummer boy (we don3t 1now which side of the battle he is onConflict Internal or external4 5nternal an !ersus self

Antagonist: 2oby3s fear of battle, his lac1 of belief that he will survive due to his feelings of disconnection, lonliness, unimportance, lac1 of purpose, etc# Climax: when the general as1s 2oby if he will beat the drum the way he must in order to motivate the soldiers and lead them into battle, 5f he will truly be the heart of the army "esolution: 2oby accepts his new role in the battle with solemn dignity and courage, believeing that he is now connected to a family (the army-, that he has an e6tremely important purpose, and that he will survive# Theme: "# To face life3s crisises with courage and faith, everyone needs to feel connected to others, to feel pride in his7her purpose, and to believe that overcoming the problem is possible# 8# .ppearances may be deceiving9 often that which seems least important may actually be immeasurably valuable#

#in$ the follo%ing literary $e!ices in this story: T%o exam&les of meta&hor "# Similarly strewn steel bones of their rifles (comparing the rifles to s1eletons- p! 8# its great lunar face (comparing the shape and color of the drum s1in to the moon- p! /# enemy army turning slow, basting themselves with the thought of what they would do when the time came (comparing the soldiers turning over and over in their restless sleep as they dream of battle to something coo1ing over a fire on a spit turning over and over and basting or coating itself in sauces- p! # a moth brushed his face, but it was a peach blossom (comparing a moth and a blossom- p* !# soldiers put on their bravery with their caps (comparing bravery or courage to an article of clothing p* *# There3s your chee1, fell right off the tree overhead (comparing his fu::y facial hair to peach fu:: - p* ;# bunch of wild horses on a loose rein (comparing the wild, untrained soldiers to untamed horses- p; )# <ou are the heart of the army3 (comparing the army to one living human = 2oby to a beating heart- p; ># they would sleep forever (&omparing death to sleep- p; "+# muted thunder (comparing sound of drum to thunder- p) T%o exam&les of simile: "# ?bayonets fi6ed li'e eternal lightning (comparing the shiny, sharp 1nives on their guns to lightning shining in the moonlight since the guns were hidden in the grass and the moonlight could only detect the 1nives- p!

8# peach pit struc1 once li'e panic (comparing the startling sound of the pit hitting the drum to the panic the sound created in the boy3s imagination- p! /# Soldiers3 whispering was li'e a natural element (comparing the combined whispering of all the soldiers to the sound of a great wind approaching p! /# this drum which was worse than a toy (comparing drum3s effectiveness as a weapon to a toy- p* # him lying small here, no more than a toy himself (comparing the small boy to a toy- p* !# their 1nees would come up in a long line down over that hill, one 1nee after the other, li'e a wave on the ocean shore (comparing their energetic, precision marching to waves crashing on the shore- p; *# waves rolling in li'e a well,ordered cavalry charge to the sand (comparing march to wave- p; ;# put steel armor on the men?blood moving fast? as if they3d put on steel (comparing the adreline rush of their organi:ed, energetic march to steel armor- p; Two e6amples of &ersonification: "# ?bones of young harvested by the night and bindled around campfires (giving the night the @ob of a farmer who gathers the men up in bunches li1e stal1s of corn and places them around the fires- p#! 8# sun might not show its face because of what was happening here (giving the sun emotions,shame, and choice to shine or not- p; Two e6amples of allusion% "# all the places in the story which refer to the site and time of the battle because that was real 8# all the references to the type of guns /# the reference to Ar# Bongfellow because he was one of the most famous poets of that time period who wrote many poems about national events% Bisten my children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Caul Revere? See pages )" , /+ , /+; in the literature te6t for more info#

Two e6amples of sym(ols% "# shield D things the soldiers had to protect them in battle (family, patriotism, optimism, rifle- p !,* 8# turning the drum over to the s1y at the end D 2oby3s change from a scared, lonely boy to a young soldier fortified with his own shield (contrast between opening and closing paragraphs on p ! and ) )oca(ulary *or$s: compounded

resolute

riveted

benediction as1ew

historical fiction