The Drummer Boy of Shiloh

In the short story "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" by Ray Bradbury, the main character, Joby, receives help from the General of the troop. The General helps Joby find self-confidence and purpose through an item of resentment. The General makes Joby feel better by making him feel wanted. For example, on page 53 the General tells Joby that in order to make the army battle worthy, he needs Joby to beat his drum. Joby sits there, listening to his speech about how Joby is important and needed. Also, when the General first finds Joby, Joby is crying. Instead of scolding him about being weak, he encourages him, saying it's ok to cry before the war. It might even be better. The General also doesn't seem so surprised to see Joby there. As if the General was once a little boy who was looked down on; as if he was once a drummer boy who wanted to be a soldier.

The General also helps teach and comfort Joby by finding something that Joby can do well, and creates something new out of it. It's like the General took Joby's drum away, turned it into a secret weapon, then returned it to Joby with a new sense of importance. Everyone has probably has, or had done something they don't like, so they try to push it out of their minds. If you could just look at this thing, or event in a different light it might change into something wonderful, unless you are like Joby, and need someone else to shape it for you, and point out the opportunity.

I have been volunteering at ATN (All Together Now), which is a non-profit organization that lets adoptees mentor and take care of other adopted children, while their parents learn about taking care of adopted children. I have been taking care of a three year old girl named Tirha. Sometimes, during the day she misses her mom, and I have to do my best to distract her, and comfort her. I connect this to "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" because the General talked to Joby, and said the things he needed to hear. The General made Joby feel better, to the best of his abilities. When I talk to Tirha and try to comfort her I tell her that she'll see her mom really soon, and that she should color a picture, or make something for or of her mom. It's not like I'm preparing her for war or anything, but I still feel a sense of responsibility when Tirha feels bad, and it makes me feel proud when she feels comfortable. I feel like I'm preparing her for a time when she'll have to spend the day without her mom around, like when she starts school. By doing this I feel assertive and commanding like the General, and important like Joby.

Beauty Queens

In the book Beauty Queens by Libba Bray a plane full of the 50 Teen Dream Pageant contestants crashes onto a deserted island. This book doesn't exactly have one main theme, but one of my questions was about people who influence other people. In this book other people don't influence other people, but more like expectations and dreams of other people influenced their decisions when living on the island. Each of the surviving girls find themselves while surviving this harsh island. One of the main influences is how their family or friends see them. They think that the pageant is all they think about and care about. One of the girls actually joined so they could prove that pageants aren't everything. Beauty pageants are a lot of work, and it must be tedious when you aren't the one who want's it.

These girls were influenced by the image everyone thought they were, almost like peer pressure. One of the girls, Taylor, was shaped to be her mothers spitting image, and worshipped the "queen of Beauty Queens" Ladybird Hope. Taylor actually went crazy near the end, but during her parts you could tell her life was hard growing up. Most of the parents of these contestants thought that their child would be just like them when they grew up, which is a mistake. These parents are pressuring their daughters to parade around for something they might not care about. Worse even, they might care about it because pageants are the only thing they know. My parents are very open to new ideas, so i never dealt with influencing of that sort.

Some of the girls in the Teen Dream Pageant also had personal problems. One of the girls used to be a guy in a famous boy band. Once the other girls found out they were judgmental and didn't understand. I feel like they should have had a little more sympathy for the 'girl' they had known for a while. I have definitely been misunderstood. I am misunderstood a lot everyday because of the things I say. I usually say the wrong things at random times, and I am very impulsive when I speak. If there is something I want to say, and I'm about to say it, I don't think about how it sounds before it comes out. Like one time with my friends, one of us ordered cookies. I had taken one when she wasn't looking, not knowing she go them for herself. When she tried to take it back I said abruptly "you monster!" We all had a good laugh about it, and i still got part of that cookie, but I had no idea what I was saying until it came out, and I was kind of embarrassed. Upon leaving the island, each girl left with a new prospective on their life, and what they wanted to be.

The Future of Us

In the book The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler two best friends, Josh Templeton and Emma Nelson, somehow come upon Facebook, but its 1996! Their lives take lots of twists as Josh and Emma try to change the future, or keep it. Mistakes are made, and there's no way to change their futures back.

One part in this book that confused me was on page 225, when Emma realizes that if she does something in the present, it would cause a ripple in the time stream and change her future. For example, she changes where she lives from Ohio to London by saying that she will never move to Ohio and clicking the refresh button. At first, Emma only does small things, but her life doesn't change very much, and she's not happy with it, so to try and make a bigger change she kisses Josh.

In the past Josh had developed a crush on Emma, and thought she liked him too, so he kissed her. Emma didn't feel that way about Josh, and their friendship had been more fragile because of it, but Josh still likes Emma. So when Emma kissed Josh to create a change, he thought she was toying with his emotions. He thought she did that on purpose, and according to Facebook Josh never forgave Emma (he wasn't her friend on Facebook). Before this scene Emma was talking to her best friend Kellan and Kellan was asking Emma if anything might be between her and Josh. Emma thought about it, and said no way, but had second thoughts. Maybe Emma really did have some feelings for Josh, but didn't realize it. Josh gets really mad at Emma and starts to focus on his Facebook future, but later remembers a time when he tried to draw Emma. Josh is an amazing artist, but when he drew Emma he couldn't capture her into the drawing, and felt like he had failed. Maybe he was clouded by his emotions. Josh also had confronted Emma about her dating habits and how she went out with guys and didn't even like them and went straight to the next guy. But I think Josh wishes he was one of those guys, just he wants Emma to genuinely like him, and stay with him. He wants Emma to see how much he really likes her.