Research and
On pages 209-10, read “How I Wrote ‘The Drummer
Boy of Shiloh’”.
• Do you think Bradbury’s first draft of “The
Drummer Boy of Shiloh” was historically
accurate? Why or why not?
• Why did Bradbury research facts that he did
not use in the story?
In order to get theme,
you must draw conclusions.
• What side of the Civil War are Joby and the
general?
• Why does the general compare Joby cheek to
what’s falling from the tree? What is Bradbury
implying (to readers)?
• What imagery (mental movie) does Bradbury
give readers in the last sentence (paragraph)?
Remember imagery affects more than visual
sense. Look at language choices.
• Get shelfie and file under “old” in yellow
folder
• From your mailbox, pick up “How to Research
for Historical Fiction: Balancing Fact and
Fiction”.
• “Connotation: creating mood and conveying
tone” Reading Assignment Due: March 3
In the April night, more than once, blossoms fell
from the orchard trees and lit with rustling taps on
the drumskin. At midnight a peach stone left
miraculously on a branch through winter, flicked by
a bird, fell swift and unseen, struck once, like panic,
which jerked the boy upright. In silence he listened
to his own heart ruffle away, away, at last gone
from his ears and back in his chest again.
Connotative
Word/phrase
Mood Created
Tone
Conveyed
page
number
203
In the April night, more than once, blossoms fell
from the orchard trees and lit with rustling taps on
the drumskin. At midnight a peach stone left
miraculously on a branch through winter, flicked by
a bird, fell swift and unseen, struck once, like panic,
which jerked the boy upright. In silence he listened
to his own heart ruffle away, away, at last gone
from his ears and back in his chest again.
Connotative
Word/phrase
Mood Created
Tone
Conveyed
page
number
Midnight, swift, unseen,
panic
threatening
sympathetic
203
hopeful
203
Miraculously, silence, ruffle calming
away
He lay next to it, his arm around it, feeling the
tremor, the touch, the muted thunder as, all the
rest of the April night in the year 1862, near the
Tennessee River, not far from the Owl Creek,
very close to the church named Shiloh, the
peach blossoms fell on the drum.
Connotative
Word/phrase
Mood Created
Tone
Conveyed
page
number
208
He lay next to it, his arm around it, feeling the
tremor, the touch, the muted thunder as, all the rest
of the April night in the year 1862, near the
Tennessee River, not far from the Owl Creek, very
close to the church named Shiloh, the peach
blossoms fell on the drum.
Connotative
Word/phrase
Mood Created
Tremor, muted
thunder, peach
blossoms
Fearful,
Foreboding,
Apprehensive,
Sympathetic
Tone
Conveyed
page
number
208
“How to Research for Historical
Fiction: Balancing Fact and Fiction”.
1. Preview text and make predictions.
2. While reading the text, compose a
list of 5 tips(R/W Hb) the author
gives for balancing fact and fiction
when writing historical fiction.
“How to Research for Historical
Fiction: Balancing Fact and Fiction”.
1. Research style of dress and characters’ names.
2. Find out what streets, buildings, parks existed in the
particular setting while keeping track of basic
information and being consistent.
3. Be accurate with dialect.
4. Any information taken from internet sources should
be cross-checked.
5. Personally visit location being written about.
6. Libraries contain original documents, maps and
books.
7. Ask experts.
Using a chart may help you see that texts all have a common subject, the Civil War Battle of
Shiloh, but their authors have different purposes and use different forms of writing.
Historical
Data
Fiction or
nonfiction?
Author’s
purpose
Method of
organization
(structure)
Theme or
main idea
“Drumbeats
and Bullets”
“The Drummer Boy of
Shiloh”
“How I Came to
Write ‘The
Drummer Boy of
Shiloh’”
Fiction or
nonfiction?
Historical Data “Drumbeats
and Bullets”
“The Drummer
Boy of Shiloh”
“How I Came to
Write ‘The Drummer
Boy of Shiloh’”
Nonfiction
Fiction: made-up
story
Nonfiction
Nonfiction
(Tip: Is there
dialogue?)
Author’s
purpose
To inform
readers of
historical
detail and
statistic
To give readers
an idea of
drummer boy’s
ages and
responsibilities
To give readers an
idea of what it
might have been
like the night
Battle of Shiloh
To share with readers
how he was inspired
to write the story and
what he needed to do
to improve it.
Method of
1. time/place
organization 2. generals
(structure)
3. casualties
Explanations
followed by
primary
sources (first
hand accounts
from journals
and quotes
from former
drummer
boys)
Begins with peach
blossoms tapping
on the drum.
General gives Joby
words of courage.
Ends with peach
blossoms tapping
on the drum.
Begins with
inspiration for story.
He discusses how he
realized he didn’t
know much after
reviewing draft.
Then talks about how
he had to conduct
research to improve
his story.
Theme or
Drummer boys 1. To face fear
The two-day
An author must
Method of
organization
(structure=
order of
info)
Theme or
main idea
1. time/place
2. generals
3. casualties
Explanations
followed by
primary
sources (first
hand
accounts
from journals
and quotes
from former
drummer
boys)
Begins with peach
blossoms tapping on
the drum. General gives
Joby words of courage.
Ends with peach
blossoms tapping on
the drum.
Begins with inspiration
for story. He discusses
how he realized he
didn’t know much
after reviewing draft.
Then talks about how
he had to conduct
research to improve
his story.
The two-day
Civil War Battle
of Shiloh cost
more that
twenty
thousand
soldiers’ lives
and failed to
secure victory
or territory for
either side.
Drummer
boys were
the
heartbeat of
Civil War
battles.
1. To face fear with
courage and faith,
everyone needs to feel
connected to others, to
feel pride in his/her
purpose, and to believe
that overcoming the
problem is possible.
2. Appearances may be
deceiving; often that
which seems least
important may actually
be immeasurably
valuable.
An author must
conduct research to
create authentic
details in a believable
fictional story.
Step 1:
Understand the
“Writing Task”.
Step 2: Decide on
your “position”.
Step 3: Gather
evidence to
support your
position.
Is the story an accurate “reflection” of
the historical record?
Historical Fact
Historical Fiction
Setting
Shiloh, TN: Church, Peach
Orchard, April 1862
“…all the rest of the April
night in the year 1862, near
the Tennessee River, not far
from the Owl Creek, very
close to the church named
Shiloh, the peach blossoms
fell on the drum.”
Characters
Drummer boys, Johnny Clem,
General Johnson
Joby, the general
Events
The two-day Civil War Battle
of Shiloh cost more that
twenty thousand soldiers’
lives and failed to secure
victory or territory for either
side.
night before the Battle of
Shiloh
Organize.
I. Intro-Thesis
Based on historical facts, Bradbury’s story is …
II. Support/Evidence from text (give page numbers)
A. In “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” by Ray Bradbury …(pg #)
B. According to historical facts …(pg #)
III. Support/Evidence from text (give page numbers)
A. In “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” by Ray Bradbury …(pg #)
B. According to historical facts…(pg #)
IV. Conclusion
Ray Bradbury creates a believable or unbelievable
account of…
Organize.
I. Intro-Thesis
Based on historical facts, Bradbury’s story is a believable account of
events the night before the Battle of Shiloh.
II. Support/Evidence from text
1. Falling peach blossoms (208)
2. Peach orchard in April (196)
III. Support/Evidence from text
1. Joby is crying because he’s afraid. (205)
2. Drummer boys were in the midst of battle. (200)
Conclusion
Ray Bradbury creates a believable account of the night before a
bloody battle in The Drummer Boy of Shiloh.
Organize.
I. Intro-Thesis
Based on historical facts, Bradbury’s story presents a believable
portrait of a Civil War drummer boy.
II. Support/Evidence from text
1. “…for a boy just turned fourteen…” (204)
2. “Fourteen-year-old Orion Howe…” (198)
III. Support/Evidence from text
1. “Run off from home or join legitimate, boy?” (205)
2. “Clem ran away from home in 1861 when he was eleven years old.”
(199)
Conclusion
Ray Bradbury creates a believable portrait of a Civil War drummer
boy in The Drummer Boy of Shiloh.
Introduction Sample
The two-day Civil War Battle of Shiloh cost
more that twenty thousand soldiers’ lives and
failed to secure victory or territory for either side.
“The Drummer boy of Shiloh” is a fictitious
account of a Civil War drummer boy’s night
before the Battle of Shiloh. In this short story
fourteen-year-old Joby faces his fear with the
help of a general. Based on historical facts,
Bradbury’s story is a believable account of events
the night before the Battle of Shiloh.