Revised response

            The book Shadow by Michael Morpurgo is told in an unusual way. The story so far is told by three different characters: Matt, Grandpa, and Aman. Each character’s name is printed at the beginning of each chapter, and each chapter is told in first person.  I thought that the book was confusing at first because the reader has to keep track of who is talking. Then after a while I knew each character a little better, and the story made more sense.

Matt is a little boy who cares about his friend and wants to know what happened to him. Matt encourages his Grandpa to go see Aman who is Matt’s friend from Afghanistan.  He was put in a prison called Yarl’s Wood not far from where Matt’s Grandpa lives. At first Matt does not know if Aman is still at the prison.  Or after three weeks of being held was he shipped back to Afghanistan like he said they would eventually do in his letter. The prison won’t let kids in, so he persuades his Grandpa to go in and see if Aman is all right. I think that show’s that Matt cares about his friend because he went through all that trouble just to see if Amen was alright and still in the country.

Matt’s Grandpa is a nice man who would do anything to help.  When Matt told him his problem about Aman, Grandpa helped Matt and went in to see Aman in the prison even though he didn’t want to.  When he arrived at the prison he thought about turning around if Matt wasn't in the car watching.  This emphasizes how Grandpa is a good man who will do anything to help because he did something he didn't want to do to help someone else. Grandpa will do anything to help Matt.

Aman is a boy from Afghanistan, who tells Matt’s Grandpa all about himself. First Aman started to talk about where he lived and how war destroyed his city in Afghanistan. Aman told Matt’s Grandpa all about how his Grandma wanted him and his mom to go to England to escape war.  Amen also told him how he had a dog just like Matt’s Grandpa’s dog. I thought it was pretty cool that they both had the same kind of dog especially because they were both brown and white.           

The story is written in an unusual way because it is told by three different characters. One character is Matt who is a boy who encourages his grandpa to go see his friend Aman since he is not allowed to. It’s also told by Matt's Grandpa who helps Matt find out about what happened and is happening to his friend. Finally, it is also told by Aman who is an immigrant from Afghanistan who tells Matt's Grandpa all about his problems hoping he can help. I think that more stories should be like this because the different perspectives are interesting and keep you engaged in what is happening. 

Shadow

 The book Shadow by Michael Morpurgo is told in an unusual way. The story so far is told by three different characters: Matt, Grandpa, and Aman. Each character’s name is printed at the beginning of each chapter, and each chapter is told in first person.  I thought that the book was confusing at first because the reader has to keep track of who is talking. Then after a while I knew each character a little better, and the story made more sense.

Matt is a little boy who cares about his friend and wants to know what happened to him. Matt encourages his Grandpa to go see Aman who is Matt’s friend from Afghanistan.  He was put in a prison called Yarl’s Wood not far from where Matt’s Grandpa lives. At first Matt does not know if Aman is still at the prison.  Or after three weeks of being held was he shipped back to Afghanistan like he said they would eventually do in his letter. The prison won’t let kids in, so he persuades his Grandpa to go in and see if Aman is all right. I think that show’s that Matt cares about his friend because he went through all that trouble just to see if Amen was alright and still in the country.

Matt’s Grandpa is a nice man who would do anything to help.  When Matt told him his problem about Aman, Grandpa helped Matt and went in to see Aman in the prison even though he didn’t want to.  When he arrived at the prison he thought about turning around if Matt wasn't  in the car watching.  This emphasizes how Grandpa is a good man who will do anything to help because he did something he didn't want to do to help someone else. Grandpa will do anything to help Matt.

Aman is a boy from Afghanistan, who tells Matt’s Grandpa all about himself. First Aman started to talk about where he lived and how war destroyed his city in Afghanistan. Aman told Matt’s Grandpa all about how his Grandma wanted him and his mom to go to England to escape war.  Amen also told him how he had a dog just like Matt’s Grandpa’s dog. I thought it was pretty cool that they both had the same kind of dog especially because they were both brown and white.           

The story is written in an unusual way because it is told by three different characters, a kid named Matt, Matt’s Grandpa, and Aman a boy from Afghanistan and it was all written in first person. 

The Drummer Boy of Shiloh Response

In the story The Drummer Boy of Shiloh by Ray Barbary, the theme is self importance. Joby is a fourteen year-old drummer boy in the army.  In the beginning, Joby thought he was useless because he did nothing important for the army. When the general found Joby crying he walked up to him and started to assure Joby that he was not totally useless. He told Joby that he played a very important role in the army. The theme of self importance is displayed as Joby’s self-esteem is dramatically improved by the general throughout the story.

            Joby’s self importance grows when he speaks to the general.  For example, when the general said, “You want to cry some more, go on ahead.   I did the same last night.” That statement helped Joby realize that soldiers cry.   Joby’s self importance started to improve because he understood it was alright to be afraid.  The general’s conversation was the beginning of improving Joby’s self importance.

            The General continued to help Joby’s self importance improve. For example, when the General said, “You are the heart of the army.” That helped Joby’s self importance because it assured him that he played a very important role in the army by playing the drum. It proved to Joby that he was actually the most important part of the army because the drumbeat set the tone for the soldier to march and fight. The general really changed Joby’s view on his self importance.

            The theme of the book is self importance. Joby’s self importance in the beginning was low because he thought he was totally useless to the army. Then Joby’s self importance improved when the General explained how significant to the army he was because he was the heart of the army. Overall, Joby’s self importance grows throughout the story because the General spoke to him about how important his job was to the army.