The Ballad of Birmingham and To Kill a Mockingbird are two pieces of literature that deal with similar themes. In both of these pieces of writing two innocent people died because of the wrong doing of others. Both of these events leading to the death of two innocent people were not needed and could have been avoided if violence can be stopped especially toward people that cause no harm (mockingbirds). Both To Kill a Mockingbird and Ballad of Birmingham have very important lessons to be learned and
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Symbolism in “The Ballad of Birmingham” Written in 1969‚ Dudley Randall’s poem “The Ballad of Birmingham” illustrates a mothers struggle to keep her young daughter away from harm during a civil rights rally in Birmingham. Throughout the poem‚ symbols such as a church‚ a child‚ and a shoe represent African-Americans and their fight against segregation. These symbols represent the struggle for equality during civil rights movement in the 1960s‚ and how these events changed the lives of blacks in
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Ballad of Birmingham By: Dudley Randall For many years‚ this country has been unjust and humanity has not always been treated equally. Dudley Randall‚ who is most famous for his literary contributions‚ wrote a poem called "Ballad of Birmingham" representing the inequality and racism during the early 1960’s (Encyclopedia.com). The main themes of the poem are racism and the struggle of African Americans around the time of the civil rights movement in 1964 (Encyclopedia.com). Randall’s poem focuses
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Ballad of Birmingham In the poem Ballad of Birmingham‚ by Dudley Randall‚ written in 1969‚ Mr. Randall uses of irony to describes the events of the mothers decision‚ and also her concern for the welfare of her darling little child. It seems odd that this child would even know what a freedom march is‚ but this would be considered normal back in the early 1960’s‚ when Mr. Martin Luther King Jr. had rallies and freedom marches to free the African American people from discrimination and segregation
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Dudley Randall’s poem “Ballad of Birmingham” refers to the bombing of a church in Birmingham‚ Alabama in nineteen sixty-three. His poem illustrates what it was like during the sixties; all the turmoil and destruction there was. Randall takes a real life‚ devastating situation that occurred on the day of this terrible explosion‚ and turns it into a beautifully written poem that expresses just how awful it was during the Civil Rights Movement. He describes a circumstance in which a little girl asks
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and rattled in the yard” and the seventh line “And the saw snarled and rattled‚ snarled and rattled” both emit a sense of darkness‚ as if having a “personality” of its own. b. When the sister came out and told the brother that supper was ready and the saw looked as if it “leaped” out of the boys hand‚ it seemed as if the saw was a friend of the boy that did not want to be abandoned‚ so it pulled away from the boy in anger‚ causing injury to the boy. The saw and the boy were in essence “friends”
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creating a calm and relaxed environment. However this is then destroyed by the young boy and the accident. While the boy is outside working his sister calls him for “supper”. “At the word‚ the saw‚ as if to prove saws knew what supper meant‚ leaped out at the boys hand‚ or seemed to leap” again the writer is personifying the saw so that it seems almost like an animal at the zoo waiting for feeding time‚ or so that it doesn’t murder anymore trees. Caesura is also
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“Ballad of Birmingham” In the poem‚ “Ballad of Birmingham”‚ Dudley Randall depicts the real historical events of the 1963 bombing of Martin Luther King Jr.’s church by white hate criminals in Birmingham‚ Alabama. Although this is the background and basis to the poem‚ I believe there is a deeper meaning that just that. Beneath the talk of innocence by the child and the protective nature of the mother‚ there lies an ironic situation. This poem is not only about the tragic events of a hate crime during
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The poem “Ballad of Birmingham‚” written by Dudley Randall‚ in a time that is notably relevant to the gravity of the contents in the poem. This poem is about the interaction between a mother and her beloved daughter‚ where the daughter wishes to go roam the streets of her hometown (Birmingham)‚ but her mother fears for the ongoing racial aggression‚ and does not allow her. But the time comes for her to go to church‚ and her mother lets her go‚ feeling that she will undoubtedly be safe in this “sacred”
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Dudley Randall -- Ballad of Birmingham(1966) Response 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. First of all‚ the most visible element of importance is the irony. A kid dying in a church where his mom told him to go to be safe is very ironic
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