poem - ballard of birmingham
Post on 22-Apr-2015
188 Views
Preview:
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Poem Ballard of Birmingham :Dudley Randall
Prepared by,Soon Ming Hui
Tan Siok YongPhoebe Hon
Liau Toh Tieh
Background of the Poet
• Born on 14 January 1914 in Washington • Drew on civil rights movement, work
experiences and travelled for inspiration• The bombing of a Baptist church in
Birmingham, resulting in the deaths of four young African American girls inspired him to write the poem.
Overview It illustrates a conflict between a child who
wishes to march for civil rights and a mother who wishes only to protect her child.
The child is eager to go into Birmingham and march for freedom with the people there.
The mother, however wants to protect her child from the danger of protesting by sending her to church because she is fear for her child's safety.
The mother believed that the church was too sacred of a place for bad things to happen like a church bombing.
But when she heard the explosion sound of a bomb going off, she knew that her believe about the church being safe was wrong.
The death of the girl as portrayed in the poem possibly was killed because of the racist issue.
Therefore, we have to always think about the unexpected.
Literacy Devices
Symbol
No, baby, no, you may not go,
For I fear those guns will fire.
War Violence
Stanza 4
Bathed rose petal sweet
Olfactory Imagery
Stanza 5
Drawn white gloves on her small brown hands
Visual Imagery
Stanza 5
Tone and Mood
Tone and Mood
• First stanza – innocenceExample: The young child tries to act niceand innocent to her mother so that her mother lets her go to the march.
• Second stanza – concern Example: Her mother tells her that there are fierce and wild dogs, clubs, hoses, guns and jails.
• Fifth stanza and the first half of the sixth stanza – pride and joyExample: Her mother is happy that she is going to the church instead of going to the march.
• Seventh stanza – melancholic and griefExample: Her mother cries when she knows that the explosion occurs at the church.
THEME
The main theme of this poem is the parents cannot protect
their son or daughter forever and ever.
Parents should give the chance to their children so that they can
learn to protect themselves. This is because someday, they will
have to face the society cruel by themselves.
Ironychurch
is a holy place and
always safe fo
r people to
stay.
But nobody will k
now that a
explosion will h
appen there
mother’s
smile was the
last smile.
Racism- the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination.
THANK YOU FOR LENDING YOUR EARS……
THE END
top related