Aubrey first read the short story, The Drummer Boy of Shiloh. We discussed the historical aspects of the story and how the author used descriptive words to indicate the time and place of the story. Aubrey then wrote a letter home using the point of view as the story's main character. She did a nice job of pulling in details about the story and the feeling of the main character as he faced the next day's battle. Aubrey then compared the first story with another short story about the Civil War, An Episode of War. The second story was more difficult to understand due to its more archaic language and structure.