Peach Blossoms and Growing Minds

     In "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" by Ray Bradbury, there is a recurring symbol, the peach blossom. In the beginning of the story, peach blossoms fall from the tree above the drummer boy, Joby, onto him drum as he sleeps. In the beginning of the story the peach blossoms startle Joby. However, by the end of the story the peach blossoms are still falling but he reacts differently, he accepts them, instead of being startled by them.
     Although the peach blossoms are significant in many ways and represent many things in the story, one way Bradbury uses them is to show that the change Joby goes through is mental, not physical. The falling of the peach blossoms falling is a consistent occurrence throughout the story, and the setting remains the same throughout the entire story, even though the character undergoes a great change. His reaction to the blossoms is different at the end because at the beginning of the story he's apprehensive and scared about the coming battle, which is why the peach blossoms startle him. However, by the end of the story, when he's ready for the battle and has accepted his fate., the peach blossoms don't startle him anymore.
     The peach blossoms show the continuous aspect of the physical setting, and the fact that the story takes place over a short period of time, yet the character undergoes major mental changes.

Harry's Rude Awakening

   In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling, Harry's best friends Ron and Hermione become prefects. At first he's jealous of them. He wonders what the headmaster, Dumbledore, sees in them that they don't see in him. He becomes jealous of them and starts feeling bitter towards them. Thinking about this consumes his mind for a while and for a little bit he sees it as a big problem.
   Later on that night though, he sees a picture of a lot of people who were in a society called The Order of the Phoenix who are now dead, or have been tortured to insanity. Harry knew some of these people, or is friends with the relatives of the people in the photo. This makes him wonder why he was worried about being a prefect at all.
   I think that the reason that Rowling included this part was to make a statement about how sometimes, when people are worried about little things, something can happen that shakes them back to their senses. I also think she's making a point that sometimes people get so involved in their own lives that they forget about or are ignorant to big things happening around them.
  I can connect this to my life in many ways. One example was on 9/11 when I was really stressed out about homework and high school applications, and then I looked out the window and saw the light tribute and realized how little my problems were compared to everyone who was affected by 9/11.
  I think that by having something like this happen to Harry, Rowling is saying something about the world.

Reading Response to "The Fall of Rome"

     Over the summer I read The Fall of Rome by Martha Southgate. I found it really engaging and realistic. The book is told from the point of view of a few different people, but the main story revolves around a boy named Rashid and how he adjusts to a boarding school that he's going to. The boarding is mostly full of rich white boys and he feels out of place at his school, being black, and coming from a family that really doesn't have any money to spare. He gets into the school on a scholarship.

    One aspect of this book that I found really interesting was when Rashid tried out for the track team at his new school and finds that he's a natural at track. One of his teachers, Mr. Washington, who's the only black teacher at the school, also enjoys running and runs with Rashid from time to time. However, although Mr. Washington has been running for years, Rashid is faster than him, and has more natural talent than Mr. Washington does. 

     Mr. Washington is the only black teacher in an almost all white school, and he almost looks at other black students with contempt. He's not comfortable with his race, it's something he's grown to accept, not something he's proud of. Rashid however is very comfortable with his race, and he's proud of being in the school he is now, which he got into on a scholarship. 

     I think the author is using track as a metaphor with how these two black male individuals are dealing with their race in a place where they're the minority. Mr. Washington, although he's been dealing with it his whole life, is not yet comfortable with teaching at this school where he's the minority. He keeps to himself and tries to avoid what he sees as an issue by not socializing with other teachers. Rashid, however is using this experience to make other people see that he's really not different from anyone else, and that he's comfortable  with who he is and how he fits in. Rashid is "outrunning" Mr. Washington both literally and figuratively. I really liked the author's use of this metaphor.