Piers Baker Summary

In the novel, The Watsons Go to Birmingham- 1963 Byron was not a good person in the beginning he did not do good stuff. For example, he was using matches 2 times. Although his parents said again not to use matches. Momma said what she always did if Byron uses matches again.

The tragic poem, “The Ballad of Birmingham,” begins with a young child asking an imploring question to her mother, “May I go downtown instead of out to play” (Randall, 669)?

In chapter 1, the author Wes Moore slowly had to watch his father die. Wesley (his father) was “no longer in the picture” and Wes Moore was nothing but confused about his father’s death. One of the very few memories he had of his father was that he was his “protector” (Moore 11) and always felt safe around him. Wes, at the age of four was already dealing with lots of emotions and he felt like he was “standing in a field when a powerful gust of wind suddenly blows: everything around you vanishes” (Moore 14). I can’t relate to losing a parent; however I can relate to the feeling where everything around you suddenly vanishes and you feel like everything has taken over. You feel like life has been put in pause and still can’t seem to comprehend

FACTS: Graham, 16 years old, was sentenced to three years' probation, with the first year to be served in the county jail. Less than six months after being released, he was arrested for a home-invasion robbery with two accomplices. After that, he was sentenced to life imprison without the possibility of parole.

“But you may go to church instead” (Randall,15) a mother thought her child would be safer in such a sacred place rather than being a part of the march that just might have been safer. The poem “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall, has multiple themes, but the one that sticks out is violence, which is because it is so powerful and brings the whole poem together. There is also a lot of imagery shown through this whole poem that can put a horrible picture in your head because of how sad the poem really is.

In the fictional novel, The Watsons Go To Birmingham there were several historically accurate cultures and events from the 1960’s. Most of the story is based on the mother wanting to go to Alabama, because that’s where her family is. However her husband doesn’t think it is a good idea because he knows there is segregation down in the south, and he doesn’t want his kids to see all the hatred for people of a different skin color. Their children have not been exposed the separation of different skin colors because they live in Flint, Michigan, where there is not a lot of conflicts about segregation. Yet, at some point the family decides to make the long trip to Birmingham. Before they leave for their trip, their dad goes and buys a record player

Case Facts: Roy Caballes was stopped for speeding by an Illinois state trooper Daniel Gillette. During the traffic stop another state trooper Craig Graham of the Illinois State Police Drug Interdiction Team, overheard the stop on the radio and showed up to the scene with a narcotics detection dog. While the first trooper was writing Roy Caballes a warning ticket for speeding the second trooper walked around Roy’s car with the narcotics detection dog. The dog alerted that it had detected narcotics at the rear end of the car which subsequently led to the state troopers searching the trunk of the car. Upon searching the trunk of the car the state troopers found a large quantity of marijuana which consequently led to the arrest of Roy Caballes. The entire incident lasted no longer than 10 minutes. Roy Caballes was convicted of a narcotics offence and was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay a $256,136 fine.

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

From a small town in Massachusetts, to the Next Great Baker, to owning his own business, this man has done a lot to get where he is today. Peter Gray has always loved baking but could never imagine owning his own business as fast as he did. Gray is from East Longmeadow and studied at the New England Culinary Institute. After he graduated he decided to compete against twelve other contestants on TLC’s Next Great Baker. Unfortunately he lost this competition but was offered an opportunity of a lifetime.

According to Mr. Noel Helm, who was a guest speaker for Mrs. Fox’s English class, he is the student accessibility coordinator at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College (ECTC). After introducing himself, Mr. Helm begins by explaining that it is his job to ensure equality of education for students of ECTC by providing accommodations to students who need them due to disabilities. Mr. Helm went on to give examples of accommodations such as extended exam times, class seating arrangements, providing a recording device for students who need to record lectures and hiring interpreters, all at no cost to students who need them. As explained by Mr. Helm, accommodations are at no cost to students with disabilities due to the Americans with Disabilities

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.

     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.

Dudley Randall’s “Ballad of Birmingham” is a look into the effects of racism on a personal level. The poem is set in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The tone of the title alludes to the city of Birmingham as a whole. The poem gives the reader, instead, a personal look into a tragic incident in the lives of a mother and her daughter. The denotation of the poem seems to simply tell of the sadness of a mother losing her child. The poem’s theme is one of guilt, irony, and the grief of losing a child. The mother feels responsible for the death of her child. The dramatic irony of the mother’s view of church as being a “safe haven” for her child is presented to the reader through the mother’s insistence that the young girl

With the introduction into gang life comes opportunities for wealth, women, status and power all with the convenient diffusion of any criminal or moral responsibility. Like any society, the secret world of criminal gangs has its own set of stringent expectations and rules that must be followed. In E. L. Doctorow’s Billy Bathgate, the secret world of Schultz’s New York gang empire is revealed through the eyes of the young protagonist, Billy Bathgate. During a time when the grave effects of the depression had trickled down into nearly every community, the opportunity to partake in the privy, elite, prosperous network posed by Schultz was the manifestation of all that Billy could hope for. In his short

Clements book overall was an interesting read. Not ever something I would have picked on my own but I enjoyed it and learned a lot nonetheless. A specific aspect I found interesting was how in the beginning of the book, Clements shared that during Wu’s reign she introduced over a dozen new characters to the Chinese language. Then at the beginning of each chapter he gave examples of characters Wu had made adjustments to; what they used to mean, and then what she changed them to mean. In retrospect, I believe Clements did a good job on not pushing his opinion on the reader and leaving it up to them to decide our own thoughts on Wu’s character. Clements biography helped give more story and description of my knowledge of the T’ang Dynasty of China