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- 1. Multiple Choice
Joby finds himself...
on a ridge overlooking the devastation of the Battle of Shiloh.
on a train back home to his family in Tennessee.
marching from a terrible battle at Owl Creek.
amidst 40,000 sleeping troops in a peach orchard.
- 2. Multiple Choice
Why is Joby unable to go back to sleep at the beginning of the story?
Peach blossoms keep falling on his drum.
He is worried about the battle.
The other soldiers are talking.
He is waiting to talk to the general.
- 3. Multiple Choice
"The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" takes place during
WWII
WWI
the Revolutionary War
the Civil War
- 4. Multiple Choice
The night before the battle, Joby weeps because...
he misses his mother and father.
the army troops make fun of him.
he has no way to protect himself in battle.
he does not really know how to play the drum.
- 5. Multiple Choice
Which piece of evidence best supports WHY Joby is worried about the battle?
After that, he turned the drum on its side, where its great lunar face peered at him whenever he opened his eyes.
Beyond the thirty-three familiar shadows, forty thousand men, exhausted by nervous expectation, unable to sleep for romantic dreams of battles yet unfought, lay crazily askew in their uniforms.
For with the careless bones of the young men harvested by night and bindled around campfires were the similarly strewn steel bones of their rifles, with bayonets fixed like eternal lightning lost in the orchard grass.
Me, thought the boy, I got only a drum, two sticks to beat it, and no shield
- 6. Multiple Choice
The army's mood on the night before the battle might be best described as:
worried and fearful.
tired and depressed.
nervous and excited.
happy and cheerful.
- 7. Multiple Choice
When Bradbury writes, "...perhaps they might go away...and not notice him lying small here, no more than a toy himself," he means to convey...
...that Joby is thinking about hiding and not going with the army the next day
...that Joby feels childish and silly.
...that Joby wants to play hide-and-seek with the soldiers.
...that Joby wants to lead the army into battle the next day.
- 8. Multiple Choice
The general at first mistakes Joby for...
a reporter covering the war.
a soldier crying before the battle.
a wounded soldier moaning in pain.
his son who is too young to fight.
- 9. Multiple Choice
We know that the character of the General represents a father figure for Joby because...
...the General is actually Joby's father.
...the General is the same age as Joby's real dad.
...the General smells like all fathers should.
...the General said that Joby reminded him of his son.
- 10. Multiple ChoiceWhy does the general say it is good for a soldier to cry before the fight?Crying makes a soldier fight better.He is ridiculing Joby for crying.He believes crying brings good luck.There won't be time to cry once the battle begins.
- 11. Multiple Choice
How old is Joby?
11
12
13
14
- 12. Multiple Choice
The general wishes the battle could be postponed because:
the other army has more troops.
his own troops need more enthusiasm.
his own troops need more training.
The other army has rifles and bayonets.
- 13. Multiple ChoiceWhy did the general cry the night before the story takes place?He is afraid that his side will give up.He thinks the war might last a long time.He believes the other side will soon give up.He believes it is lucky to cry before a battle.
- 14. Multiple Choice
The phrase, “You want to cry some more, go on ahead. I did the same last night” shows that the general is:
weak
compassionate
cowardly
intelligent
- 15. Multiple ChoiceThe general says the drummer boy is......the brains of the army....the backbone of the army....the heart of the army....the pride of the army.
- 16. Multiple Choice
How were drummer boys the heart of the army?
They signaled orders to the troops with their drum beats.
They told the soldiers sentimental stories of home.
They were good examples for the other soldiers.
They were versatile fighters on the battlefield.
- 17. Multiple Choice
How does Joby feel after talking to the general?
eager and alert
grim and forlorn
frightened and concerned
calm and reassured
- 18. Multiple ChoiceWhy did Joby turn his drum back over at the end of the story?He didn't want a peach pit to hit it and scare him.He wanted to protect his drum from the rain.He was no longer afraid of going to battle with only his drum.He used the drum as a pillow.
- 19. Multiple Choice
Which of the following best states the theme or central idea of “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh”?
Young men who die in a battle become immortal.
Victory in war requires careful planning and strong leadership
True courage is overcoming fear, not the absence of fear.
The faster an army moves, the more likely it will succeed.
- 20. Multiple Choice
Which of the following pieces of evidence best supports the theme that "True courage is overcoming fear, not the absence of it"?
A. “You want to cry some more, go on ahead. I did the same last night.”
“Sir, is that you?” he said.
“I assume it is.” The man’s knees cracked as he bent still closer.
So each is his own army. I got to make one army of them. And for that, boy, I need you.”
“Now, boy,” said the General quietly, “you are the heart of the army. Think of that. You’re the heart of the army.”
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