Analysis Of Ballad Of Birmingham By Dudley Randall

In The Watsons go to Birmingham, By Christopher Paul Curtis, a boy named Kenny gets to go to Birmingham, Alabama, during one of the darkest moments in America’s history. Before him and his family left to Birmingham he has to deal with other problems like dealing with the cold time in Flint, Michigan, his brother being mean and beating him up, he has to deal with people being mean to him for being black or not bringing enough food for the other people in his grade that he hangs out with. But Kenny has one friend that stays with him after some rough times and his name is Rufus.

In 'Ballad of Birmingham,' Dudley Randall illustrates a conflict between a child who wishes to march for civil rights and a mother who wishes only to protect her child. Much of this poem is read as dialogue between a mother and a child, a style which gives it an intimate tone and provides insight to the feelings of the characters. Throughout the poem the child is eager to go into Birmingham and march for freedom with the people there. The mother, on the other hand, is very adamant that the child should not go because it is dangerous. It is obvious that the child is concerned about the events surrounding the march and wants to be part of the movement. The child expresses these feelings in a way

“The Watsons Go To Birmingham,” by Christopher Curtis and “16th Street Street Baptist Church Bombing,” by Jessica McBirney

“But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.”

In an interview of Carolyn Mckinstry who was the 15 year old Sunday School secretary at the First Baptist Church at the time of the bombing done by Lottie L .Joiner . In the interview Mckinstry describes what happened from her perspective that day and even how the bombing personally affected her after; “I suffered from almost 20 years from depression. I had a rash on my hands that I couldn’t get rid of. I couldn’t sleep at night. It took me a long time to get over that”. (Joiner) This interview was just one of many done by either survivors or witnesses of the bombing but perhaps the most notable tribute was a poem entitled “Ballad of Birmingham” written by acclaimed poet and poetry publisher Dudley Randall. The poem was written in response to and dedication to the girls that were killed in the bombing and was set to music by Jerry Moore in

In the poem “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall, the author describes how a daughter wants to go to a march happening in the streets, but her mother’s refuses because of the extreme acts of violence from the police officers when countering the protesters. Her daughter tells her mother that she is going to be with other infants who also want to attend the protest. However, her mother still insists on not allowing her to go, but instead tells her to go to church, where her safety is assured. The theme of violence plays a crucial part in the "Ballad of Birmingham." In the poem, the young girl wants to join in the marches happening in downtown, but her mother can’t let her go due to the threat of police retribution against protesters.

In the poem “Ballad of Birmingham”, by Dudley Randall, many different things can be analyzed. The difference in the two translations; one being a literal translation, telling the true meaning of the poem, and the other being a thematic translation, which tells the author’s theme and symbolism used in his/her work. Another thing that all poets have in common is the usage of poetic devices; such as similes, metaphors, and personification.

Wilde’s poem, ‘The Ballad of Reading Gaol’ details the prisoner narrator’s first-hand experience in the prison and provides an account of a condemned man’s last days before being hung. The emotional nature of the poem allows the prisoner to express how he feels about the events he sees and the significant impact this has on him. ‘The Ballad of Reading Gaol’ is likely largely biographical and details Wilde’s own personal experience of being in prison. Largely, the poem explores themes of punishment, retribution, forgiveness and societal influence. Initially, the poem appears to be clearly about attacking the judicial system, however others would argue that the prisoner’s personal experience is more important because it evokes more feeling for readers and is more influential as changing societal views on prisoners compared to being an attack on the judicial system.

culture here. The speaker is allowing the reader to make a mental picture of one

The first four stanzas are questions and answers in the form of dialogue; the daughter asking to be in the freedom march and the mother telling her it is too dangerous. The mother tells her that the dogs will be fierce, the guns will fire, and there will be clubs and hoses. In these stanzas the author uses repetition and word choice to create the tone of a wary mother telling her daughter ‘no’ and the daughter’s youthful innocence. When the daughter says: “Mother dear” (line 1) it conveys a young child trying to inveigle her mother into letting her be in the march. The repetition of “No, baby, no, you may not go,” (lines 5 and 13), has the tone of a vigilant mother talking to her young child. Randall also uses an understatement to support the issue of racism and the question of freedom. After the mother says there will fierce dogs, clubs, guns, hoses, and jails, she says that those things: “Aren’t good for a little child.” (line 8) This is a tremendous understatement. No one, of any age, should be treated in such a hideous way, especially ‘free’ people at a freedom march. The author ends this section with foreshadowing and dramatic irony. The mother says: “No, baby, no, you may not go, / For I fear the guns will fire. / But you may go to the church instead / And sing in the children’s choir.” (lines 12 - 15). This is dramatic irony and foreshadowing

     The Ballad of Birmingham resembles a traditional ballad in that it tells a story in a song-like manner. The didactic tone seeks to teach us something; in this case it’s the theme of needless destruction. There are many devices the author uses to create such a tone and to tell such a story.

For centuries, racism has plagued America. People of black ethnicity have been specifically targeted at the most. The bombing of Birmingham, Alabama was an especially tragic example of said attacks. Countless innocent black men, women, and children were shot and killed in the events following the bombing.

In the “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall, the story focuses around an African American girl who wants to go march in downtown Birmingham so that she in contributing to the protest for freedom. Her mother refuses to let her young girl go due to the horrible violence that it entitles. Instead of going to the march, the mother sends her innocent child to church instead thinking that she would be safer there than in Birmingham. What are the odds that her daughter died in church and not at the march? Nothing bad could happen, right? The single most key element that shapes the entire meaning on the poem is the irony in the situation that actually took place in 1963.

The “Ballad Of Birmingham” poem is a conversation between a mother and child that starts when the child says ‘“Mother dear, may I go downtown Instead of out to play, And march the streets

James Baldwin’s “My Dungeon Shook” was not only significant but it is very relevant to modern day America. Although he has written this letter to his nephew, it is for a greater audience, it is for an audience that does not see the expense of their selfishness, it is for an audience who deems themselves innocent although causing pain to millions of lives. This writing isn’t significant because it calls out America or covers police brutality, this text is significant because of the simple fact it is written to an innocent child. An innocent child that later in his life is going to have to figure out that he is a “problem” to society just because he was born a certain way, an innocent child who will learn that no matter how much he accepts