Drummer Boy of Shiloh

         In the short story the Drummer Boy of Shiloh by Ray Bradbury the setting takes place the night before the battle of Shiloh. In this story the main character, Joby is the youngest out of everyone in war, and that is his main issue. In the story Joby is given the position of the drummer boy and with that position he thinks he can't do much because all he has is a drum and two sticks, but all these thoughts turn the other way after Joby meets the general. The general advises Joby a lot of things, and the generals advice makes me feel that he is trying to tell Joby that your position or your age doesn't matter in war what actually matters is  how hard you work to succeed in war. I think this because in the story the general advises Joby a lot of things, but Joby's age doesn't come up even once, the general advised Joby how to succeed in war, even though not knowing his age. This is why i think of your position or your age doesn't matter in war what actually matters is  how hard you work to succeed in war.
    One big change i realize in Joby is that Joby turned to boy to man through out the whole story. For instance in the beginning of the story Joby was thinking about how all the other soldiers will die and he is the only one that is going to come back, this shows that Joby doesn't yet realize how serious war actually is, and things going good can turn bad in one minute.He also thought that with a drum and two sticks he can't make a difference in war, but by the end of the story Joby realizes the seriousness about war and he can make a difference with a drum and two sticks. Joby also got that confidence, which he didn't have in the beginning of the story. for example in the beginning of the story his words was" I think so sir" and at the end his words was "Yes sir". Theses two quotes show that in the beginning Joby was unsure and at the end it shows he gained more confidence.
   i think Joby gained this confidence from the relationship between the general and himself, because after the pep talk with the general Joby realized all this that your position or your age doesn't matter in war, what actually matters is  how hard you work to succeed in war. Also that all positions are all equally important either if you are the drummer boy or the general. i think the author explains that in the quote " you're the heart of the army". To me it explains that without a drummer boy there is no army and that the drums are the heart of the army.
      All i think Joby needed was a boast of confidence and that is what he got, and that  realized that he IS needed and he IS important.
       
    

Blog Post # 1- Hollow By Jessica Verday

   During Summer Vacation i was reading a book called Hollow By Jessica Verday. In this book the main
character Abbey had a best friend Kristen who had been missing for 3 days in a row. Many people
believed that it was a drugs that killed her because years before Kristen's brother went missing  and the
 parents later found out it was the drugs that killed him. Abbey, Kristen's best friend didn't believe that, and this is what this book is mainly about, why and how did Kristen died? 
 While trying to find out how and why Kristen died, Abbey met Caspian, a gorgeous looking boy, but something about him was mysterious, one thing was that was unusual about him was  there was no way to find him or contact him, but to abbey that didn't matter, but to me that seemed as a sign, that he didn't want to be found and that also lead me to the idea That he might have not have an true identity.  
      Later on in the story Abbey falls in love with Caspian. Which i didn't agree with, because it wasn't right to fall with someone easily not knowing who he/she actually are, because later when you know the real truth you are going to break your own heart. Which happened to Abbey and Kristen, but in the end Kristen ending up drowning herself in the river. to Abbey i think this part of her life was really important because that made her more alert in the future. 
     To me this book is a really good example of getting to know the person before you start growing up a relationship with the person, as a friend or someone special, because it show how hurtful and heart-breaking it can be.