The Importance of the Peach Blossoms

          While we were reading the Drummer Boy of Shiloh, by Ray Bradbury, in class we brought up how much the peach tree and the peach blossoms kept on appearing. Even the first time I read the story they still stuck out to me. I knew that they meant something deeper than just being some peach blossoms and a peach tree. The author wouldn't have brought then back so many times if they hadn't been important. When I read the story again, I was looking out for them. I realized they appeared really, only in the most important parts of the book, and so I begin to analyze 'what they really meant' each time they were mentioned.
          The first time the peach blossoms are mentioned, is actually the first sentence of the story. The line is, "In the April night, more than once, blossoms fell from the orchard trees and lighted with rustling taps on the drumhead. At midnight a peach stone left miraculously on a branch trough winter, flicked by a bird fell swift and unseen..." In the next few sentences they introduce the main character, Joby who is the drummer boy in the Battle of Shiloh and they explain the fact that the men in the army are scared and waiting for battle. I think that the idea behind this mention of the peach blossoms, is how in such a harsh time where boys are forced to become men, awaiting possibly death, life can just continue for anything and anyone else. Like, the birds only a few feet away continue on ignorant to such hardships. I thought that this brought a light to the severity and reality of war, and this situation.
          Also, the next time the peach blossoms and the peach trees are mentioned is when Joby is flicked by a peach blossom. Right before this, Joby was crying about how he probably wouldn't make it through the battle with no weapon, even no protection, whereas the oter boys are scared but also wanting to be hero's and more confident. In our minds, whether or not we think about it, I think the idea of peach blossoms, or even blossoms in general, would be considered 'light' and 'happy' and certainly nothing relating to war and death. I think that the peach blossom shows the idea of the innocence and youth held by all of the boys no matter how grown up they've been forced to become. right after this the general calls Joby a 'boy' which because I was thinking of the innocence really stood out to me as further proof of the real idea of what the soldiers are.
          Lastly, the peach blossoms are mentioned in the last line. This is right after Joby has begun to accept that he may die in battle but either way he will charge into the battlefield giving everything to his army no matter what the cost. First, it stuck out to me that Ray Bradbury would close the story with the peach blossoms. He would obviously not do so unless it was important. I thought that they were supposed to have an effect of finality which, really, is what I got from reading that last line. I thought that not only does the idea of peach blossoms seem light and happy, but really just calm and peaceful. It gives you a sense that everything's going to be okay. When Joby falls asleep then I think that that idea of everything being okay and finality is how he appears to feel.
           All of these mentions of peach blossoms in the story, show me that they are really metaphorical and deep, which leads me to the fact that they obviously are important. To me they were almost like clues, they give you a little idea of whats really going on, without directly telling you, and leave you to really think about the rest.

Reading Response 2: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Reading Response 2: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer.

By Maddy Stutt 809

         In the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, the main character Oskar Schell always follows his parents rules, until he finds an envelope with the word black written on it and a key inside. After that, he lies to his mom and continually sneaks out to try and find the true meaning of the key and possibly its owner and where it leads to. At first it wasn't clear to me why it meant so much to him that he answered all the questions brought with the key, and I have begun to realize that it is entirely about different aspects of his father

          In the book, Oskars father, Thomas Schell is killed in the World Trade Center. Before he died, he called home to speak to Oskar or his mother many times while Oskar was home alone. Oskar never picked up, and I think that Oskar blames himself for him fathers death imagining that if he had picked up his father would be alive. Later, Oskar finds the key in his fathers pocket in his closet. I think that one reason that the key means so much to him is that he thinks that the owes it to his Dad to solve the puzzle and its as though he may be able to be at peace with himself and feel less guilt after he finds it. I think that that Oskars fathers death is one aspect of his father that makes the key very important to him.

        I think that another aspect of Thomas Schell that makes the key so important are the stories that he used to tell Oskar before he went to bed. This is because he was always challenging Oskar and giving him mysteries to solve, and Oskar was in the middle of a huge mystery/story Thomas had told Oskar about. It was about a supposed sixth borough of New York City that Oskar wanted to find and learn about through clues from his dad. I think that Oskar thinks that the key may be one of those clues or may be related to another challenge from his dad. The time they spent together before Oskar fell asleep made the two incredibly close and meant a lot to Oskar and that's another reason why finding the story behind the key is so important to him.

        Lastly, I think that Oskars father's faith in Oskar is another important reason why learning about the key is so important to Oskar. Thomas Schell was a jeweler, and he always was telling Oskar, who wanted to be just like him, that he was too smart and special to do something like that, and that Oskar could achieve greater things. At the time Oskar never believed him, but I think that after his father dies Oskar looks back and sees how far his father thought he could go. Oskar thinks that by not proving he can figure out even the most complicated mysterys he is letting his father down as a person and this keeps him moving and makes it so crucial that he figures this out.

        I think that the reason learning about the key, whether or not it means lying to his mother, is so important to Oskar because of his father. I think that it relates to his fathers death, the stories he used to tell Oskar about, and his faith in Oskar.

Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand reading Response

Reading Response One: 

Unbroken, By Laura Hillenbrand

          Over the summer, I read a book called "Unbroken." It was the story of Louie Zamperini, a man who defied everything, rules, convention, and did the impossible. It's about his life and how as a boy he was the "bad kid" of the neighborhood, who then went on to become an Olympian, and then the story of his time as a soldier in Wold War Two. Throughout his life, Louie Zamperi was always incredibly determined, whenever he had a goal he worked and worked to complete it. I begun to see determination as a theme throughout the book. It played a role in each "chapter" in his life, as a boy, then when he became a runner, and then during his time in the war.

          Louie Zamperini grew up as an impoverished Italian immigrant living in Torrance, California. As a kid, Louis was incredibly determined to be noticed. When Louie was a teenager he fought and stole to get attention. In school, he was brought to the principals again and again. As a kid he never did anything wrong, and as a teen Louis knows that he's doing the wrong thing and yet he wants to be noticed so badly that he'll break the rules anyways. I think that this shows that one of Louis characteristics is determination and when he wants something, he won't stop until he has it.

          Later on in Louie's life, his brother realized how fast he was and in high school encouraged him to join the track team in hopes that it would keep him out of trouble. Louis agreed to join the team and suddenly began to excel. Later, he became known as one of the fastest in his age group. Louie began to start thinking of the Olympics. He knew it would be almost impossible but he started to train for hours every day with Pete, who swatted him with a stick to keep him moving. He worked incredibly hard, and when he got to the Olympic tryouts and was to compete in the Olympics in 1936. Louies training for the Olympics shows his determination because such a feat was considered impossible and yet it was something he wanted, and so for that he spent hours and hours training until he completed his goal.

         

          Lastly, I think that Louie showed his determination when he was at war. In the war, his plane crashed and Louie survived along with two others. They survived on a raft without food or water, except for what they caught, for 33 days, outlasting the previous record by six days. On the raft Louie shows incredible determination through his will to survive. He lives through absolute torture, while being a leader and encouraging the other, and probably is the reason why Russel Allen Phillips survived the crash. He told the others that they would make it back, and meant it. Even at times when the other two on the raft seemed about to die and had given up, he kept on trying to make it through. All of this shows incredible determination.

         I think that in the book Unbroken, the character shows incredible determination in hard times. He shows determination throughout his entire life, in his childhood, in his Olympic career, and later on while fighting in World War Two.