Watch The History of English in Ten Minutes

Medieval Background [IN pg.15] Medieval narratives typically focus on themes related to courage, loyalty, betrayal, love, fear, and beauty. How does Knights Charging into Battle (p. 114) reflect some of those themes?

◦Copy the prompt at the top of the page◦Respond thoughtfully and thoroughly, drawing on evidence from the image to support your claims

Words Worth Knowing Ballad: a narrative poem in short stanzas of popular origin, originally sung to a repeated tune. Refrain: a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a song or poem, especially at the end of each stanza; chorus.

Poetry of the People

Ballads were the poetry of the people, just as popular music is today. Ballads had subjects such as

Lord Randall Introducing the Poem

• domestic tragedy• false love• the supernatural

Song and Dance

Lord Randall Introducing the Poem

The word ballad is derived from an Old French word meaning “dancing song.”

The structure and meter of the English ballads make it clear that they were intended to be sung to music.

Listen to part of the ballad.

Poetry of the People

The ballads of the Middle Ages

Lord Randall Introducing the Poem

• were passed down orally from singer to singer

• had strong beats and repetition

• were a gift of story passed from generation to generation

Ballads are songs or songlike poems that tell stories in simple, rhythmic language.

Lord Randall Literary Focus: Ballad

Ballads usually include• sensational or tragic

subject matter• omitted details

• supernatural events

• a refrain—a repeated word, line, or group of lines

Ballad singers often used certain conventions:

Lord Randall Literary Focus: Ballad

• incremental repetition—repeating a phrase or sentence, adding a new element each time, to build suspense

“O where hae ye been, Lord Randall, my son?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .“Where gat ye your dinner, Lord Randall, my son?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .“What gat ye to your dinner, Lord Randall, my son?”

Ballad singers often used certain conventions:

Lord Randall Literary Focus: Ballad

• question-and-answer format—a series of questions whose answers reveal facts of the story little by little; used to build suspense

“O where hae ye been, Lord Randall, my son? O where hae ye been, my handsome young man?”“I hae been to the wild wood; mother, make my bed

soon, For I’m weary wi’ hunting and fain wald lie down.”

Ballad singers often used certain conventions:

Lord Randall Literary Focus: Ballad

• conventional phrases—word groups understood by listeners to have a meaning beyond the literal one

• a strong, simple beat

• relatively uncomplicated verse forms

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Lord RandallReading Focus: Understanding Purpose

Although the author of “Lord Randall” is unknown, we can determine the author’s purpose from details in the text, such as

• dialogue• images• repetition

In “Lord Randall,” the mother repeats several phrases in each stanza. That repetition indicates that she loves her boy and is upset by his behavior.

We can guess that the ballad’s purpose is to share a tragic event with listeners.

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Lord RandallReading Focus: Understanding Purpose

Into Action: As you read, note details that help you determine the purposes of the ballads. Use a chart like the one below to record your findings.

Lord Randall Get Up and

Bar the Door

Details:

Purpose:

mother’s pleading tone

to move to sadness