Ballad of Birmingham BY DUDLEY RANDALL (On the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963) Broadside ballad (distributed in order

to do something) literary ballad De-personalize a large group of people, however telling the story of one child in particular creates a bond between the reader and said person much easier to evoke sympathy i.e. author tries to evoke pathos (sympathy) This poem describes the bombing of Marti Luther Kings Church. He explores the tragedy Lack of civil rights for black people, hypocrisy of the anti-civil rights campaigners, unjustifiability of murdering children in the name of politics. Dudley does this through the use of Irony that the adults are so ignorant that they would bomb a church but the child understands the principle of peaceful process Juxtapose emotional and intellectual maturity of the child with the ignorance of the bombers Freedom of speech not allowed there are guns etc. She will be singing hymns in the childrens choir, use of the voice in a peaceful way Thesis: The poet does this through the use of vivid imagery/juxtaposition (in the tone, loving relationship between mother and child compared to the violence around them/irony effect of irony on the reader Personal response to a device effect that it had on you to the reader, which device do you find most effective/poignant Illustrate effect of several examples when the child dies, makes the reader realise what a significant loss the death of the child is on the mother

Conclusion: critical evaluation of the poem, personal response to the poem, express self subtly, purpose of author and how far was the author successful at achieving that purpose. 1. 2. 3. 4. Mother dear, may I go downtown Instead of out to play, And march the streets of Birmingham In a Freedom March today?

5. No, baby, no, you may not go, 6. For the dogs are fierce and wild, 7. And clubs and hoses, guns and jails 8. Arent good for a little child. 9. But, mother, I wont be alone. 10. Other children will go with me, 11. And march the streets of Birmingham 12. To make our country free. 13. No, baby, no, you may not go, 14. For I fear those guns will fire. 15. But you may go to church instead 16. And sing in the childrens choir. 17. She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair, 18. And bathed rose petal sweet, 19. And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, 20. And white shoes on her feet. 21. The mother smiled to know her child 22. Was in the sacred place, 23. But that smile was the last smile 24. To come upon her face. 25. For when she heard the explosion, 26. Her eyes grew wet and wild. 27. She raced through the streets of Birmingham 28. Calling for her child. 29. She clawed through bits of glass and brick, 30. Then lifted out a shoe. 31. O, heres the shoe my baby wore, 32. But, baby, where are you?

Annotate poem and have a checklist for what a ballad is Checklist for a ballad: Ballad signature features Stories A ballad is a narrative poem, which tell stories rather than emphasize emotion Ballad often open abruptly Simple language Ballads are simple and are not overly intellectual, so they can be understood by anybody Stanzas/Rhyming The traditional ballad stanza is four scheme lines, rhymed abcb (or sometimes abab - the second and fourth lines rhyme). The first and third lines have four stresses, while the second and fourth have three. Ballad of Birmingham This ballad tells the story of the bombing of a Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which housed a black congregation Ballads are simple and are not overly intellectual, so they can be understood by anybody The ballad has the abcb rhyming scheme: No, baby, no, you may not go, For the dogs are fierce and wild, And clubs and hoses, guns and jails Arent good for a little child. This ballad often has this refrain No, baby, no, you may not go

Repetition

Dialogue

Third-person objective narration

A ballad often has a refrain - a repeated section that divides segments of the story. Ballads have incremental repetition, in which a phrase recurs with minor differences as the story progresses. Due to their narrative genre, ballads often incorporate multiple characters into their stories. Often, since changes of voice were communicated orally, written transcriptions of oral ballads give little or no indication that the speaker has changed. Writers of literary ballads, the later poems that imitate oral ballads, sometimes play with this convention. Ballad narrators usually do not speak in the first person (unless speaking as a character in the story). Do not comment on their reactions to the emotional content of the ballad.

There are two characters: the child and the mother

Types of ballad: 1. Folk ballad: usually anonymous and presentation impersonal, orally transmitted 2. Literary ballad: Composed by a single poet meant to be read