The Drummer Boy of Shiloh

Which sentence best expresses a theme of the story?

• It is possible to overcome fear by focusing on one's duty.

• It is improper for soldiers to show emotion before going into battle.

• The best military leaders can win battles without highly trained soldiers.

• The role of a drummer boy in battle is more important than a general's leadership.

Read the sentence from paragraph 6: A mile yet farther on, another army was strewn helter-skelter, turning slow, basting themselves with the thought of what they would do when the time came: a leap, a yell, a blind plunge their strategy, raw youth their protection and benediction. What does helter-skelter mean as used in this sentence?

• Distant

• Frightened

• In a haphazard manner

• Under military control

What kind of tone is created by the author's comparison of the General to a father in paragraph 22?

• Melancholy

• Respect and endearment

• Humorous

• Disrespect

Read this sentence from paragraph 37: “Counting both sides, there’s a hundred thousand men, give or take a few thousand out there tonight, not one as can spit a sparrow off a tree, or knows a horse clod from a minnieball. . . .” Which two statements best explain what the General means by his use of figurative language in this sentence?

• He doubts the soldiers' commitment to their duty.

• He is concerned that the soldiers' equipment is faulty.

• He believes the soldiers are unskilled with their weapons.

• He thinks most of the soldiers lack the knowledge they need to fight.

What do the peach blossoms in the story most likely symbolize?

• Hunger and struggle

• Opportunity and leadership

• Loss of youth and innocence

• Escape from death and suffering

Which two reasons best explain why this selection is a work of historical fiction?

• There is believable dialogue between the characters.

• The details of the time period are accurately portrayed.

• The main purpose of the text is to provide facts about an event.

• The characters are involved in a conflict that is realistic to the era.

Which sentence uses the indicative mood?

• Order the officer to lead the charge.

• The General ordered the officer to lead the charge.

• Did the General order the officer to lead the charge?

• If the General were to order it, the officer would lead the charge.

Which sentence best illustrates how the setting contributes to the General's conflict in the story?

• "Both sides figuring the other side will just give up, and soon, and the war done in weeks, and us all home." (paragraph 34)

• "But here we are, taken with spring fever and thinking it blood lust, taking our sulphur with cannons instead of with molasses as it should be, going to be a hero, going to live forever." (paragraph 37)

• "Well, when you got a bunch of wild horses on a loose rein somewhere, somehow you got to bring order, rein them in." (paragraph 40)

• But if he beat a sure, steady, ever faster rhythm, then, then their knees would come up in a long line down over that hill, one knee after the other, like a wave on the ocean shore! (paragraph 46)

Read the sentence from paragraph 46: Joby was his right hand and his left. Which statement best expresses the meaning of this idiom?

• Joby will play loudly enough for soldiers on both sides to hear.

• Joby has taken on another drummer's job for the General.

• Joby knows how to play the drums with both hands.

• Joby is the General's most important assistant.

Which sentence uses the indicative mood?

• As the drummer boy plays a beat, the soldiers march forward.

• Ask the drummer boy to play a beat so the soldiers will march forward.

• Will the drummer boy play a beat to make the soldiers march forward?

• If the drummer boy were to play a beat, the soldiers would march forward.