This week’s reading assignment was about external form in poetry; the way a poem is fashioned and recognized. Of all the poems assigned this week the one that stood out to me the most was Dudley Randall’s "Ballad of Birmingham". The poem tells about a young girl who asks her mother if she can go downtown for a parade and when the mother refuses to let her go‚ saying it is too dangerous‚ she sends her daughter to church. The daughter dies however‚ in an explosion that took place at the church. Despite
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Ballad - Love The poem‚ Ballad‚ looks to view love in a very negative and cynical way‚ as this seems to be a classic tale of a man who manipulates a woman. The poem starts off with a ’faithless shepherd’ who ’courted’ a young girl. At this point‚ we are not made aware of the girl’s name. Slightly later‚ in the opening stanza‚ we are told about how the shepherd ’stole away’ her ’liberty when my poor heart was strange to men’‚ and she clarifies this again on the next line‚ once again by saying ’He
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The poem “Ballad of Birmingham‚” written by Dudley Randall‚ in a time that is notably relevant to the gravity of the contents in the poem. This poem is about the interaction between a mother and her beloved daughter‚ where the daughter wishes to go roam the streets of her hometown (Birmingham)‚ but her mother fears for the ongoing racial aggression‚ and does not allow her. But the time comes for her to go to church‚ and her mother lets her go‚ feeling that she will undoubtedly be safe in this “sacred”
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A Real Tiger There once was a tiger that lived in a zoo He was very young and had a facial expression of steel His coat was as orange as a sunset in the afternoon sky But was the tiger real? One day curiosity crawls through the tiger’s cage And what started as a friendly gesture became a deadly feel Soon the boy was slaughtered and his body was sliced tomatoes The tiger was definitely real. The keepers wanted to get rid of the tiger Because of his delicious kill But he’s the only animal
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Recently‚ the term ballad ’ can be associated with everything from Solomon ’s Song to an Aerosmith song. The dictionary defines it as a traditional story in song or a simple song. However‚ the medieval ballad is something of a different nature than that of the popular musical ballads of today. The definition of ballad in the medieval context is a narrative poem. The authors usually remain anonymous and the ballad is more often than not accompanied by dance (Gummere). This is not surprising
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“Ballad of Birmingham” In the poem‚ “Ballad of Birmingham”‚ Dudley Randall depicts the real historical events of the 1963 bombing of Martin Luther King Jr.’s church by white hate criminals in Birmingham‚ Alabama. Although this is the background and basis to the poem‚ I believe there is a deeper meaning that just that. Beneath the talk of innocence by the child and the protective nature of the mother‚ there lies an ironic situation. This poem is not only about the tragic events of a hate crime during
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Essay on Carson McCullers’ The Ballad of the Sad Café By: English 101: ICE Due: December 5‚ 2013 The Freak‚ that human anomaly has long held fascination in life and in literature. From the southern gothic grotesquerie of Carson McCullers’ Ballad of the Sad Café‚ the freak has been marveled over‚ and pointed at. Alterity is certainly a facet to the world of the grotesque. Alterity signifies uniqueness that cannot be conceptualized‚ or comprehended. McCullers’ vision‚ and connection
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The Ballad of Mulan The original story behind the iconic Disney movie Mulan dates back to the 5th or 6th century C.E. Tzu-Yeh is possibly the woman behind The Ballad of Mulan (Ode to Mulan)- she tells the story of Mulan‚ who goes to war dressed as a man in place of her elderly father. She fought in the war against other tribes for 12 years‚ her gender unbeknownst to her comrades. Mulan faired so well in the was that the emperor offered to give her a higher rank. She refused‚ saying “Mulan has
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Critical Analysis the Ballad of Birmingham The Ballad of Birmingham is a poem written by Dudley Randall in 1963. This ballad was divided into eight stanzas containing four lines each. Birmingham‚ Alabama was the center of the storm for the fight for equality. It uses a rhyming style of “ABCB”. In the 1960s‚ the southern United States were still under the Jim Crow laws. This allowed racial segregation to be legal‚ thus sparking the uprising of the Civil Rights movement led by Dr. Martin Luther King
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Tori 2/29/11 Writing Mr. V The Ballad of East and West: What is it about? The poem‚ The Ballad of East and West by Rudyard Kipling is about India versus England. With the use of military‚ England took over India. An Indian rebel named Kamal steals the Colonel’s mare‚ so the Colonel sends his son after him. When the Colonel’s son finally catches up to Kamal at a place called The Tongue of Jagai‚ Kamal starts his little insults
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