Ballads
DO NOW
DO NOW:
What kind of music do you like to listen to when
you are sad? What style of music is best for
expressing heartbreak? (country? r&b? bachata?
Write six sentences (5MIN)
Have a sheet of loose leaf paper ready for the
vocabulary quiz
Ballads
A ballad is a story told in song, using the voice of
everyday people.
Early ballads were only performed orally. Singers
often modified a ballad in order to customize
the poem for a particular audience.
Early ballads are often called folk ballads.
Ballads
A traditional ballad consists of four line stanzas with a simple
rhyme scheme and narrates a single tragic event using dialect
forms of language.
A dialect is simply a variation of a language.
Dialects of a language can differ in pronunciation, grammar, and
vocabulary.
Dialect use can vary according to country, region, time, race,
ethnicity, age, class, and other social variables.
Ballads
Today we will read three examples of ballad
poetry.
Read “Lord Randall” and “Midwinter Blues” 818
822
Pairwork (10 min)
With a partner Make tables for the two poems
we just read. In the tables, translate any dialect
used into Standard American English.
Poem Title: “Lord Randall”
Narrator’s English
Standard English
“What gat ye to your dinner?”
“What did you eat?”
Ballads
Read “Ballad by Gabriela Mistral” pp 820-1
Pairwork
Pairwork: In complete sentences, complete a
chart identifying 5 characteristics of the ballad
as shown by #4 on pp. 823 10 min
Individual Response
Answer the following two questions. Each
answer should be half a page in length) (10
points total)
a) How is Mistral’s poem similar to a traditional
ballad? How is it different?
b) How does the use of dialect characterize the
narrators in “Lord Randall” and “Midwinter
Blues?”
Paul Henry
Now we are going to examine an American ballad. John
Henry is an American folk hero.
-The story of John Henry has taken many forms, but in
its most basic form,
-Henry is an African-American railroad worker who
competes with a steam hammer (machine) to drill the
most railroad spikes.
- Henry wins, but dies of exhaustion in the end of the
story.
- Historically, this story has been used in the labor
rights movement and Civil Rights Movement.
Paul Henry
There are many versions of the ballad of John
Henry. Two famous singers who have performed
the song include:
-Johnny Cash
-Harry Belafonte
Groupwork part 1
We are now going to analyze several historical
versions of the ballad from oral traditions. Each
student will receive one version. Later you will
meet with in a group and combine your
individual work with the others to complete the
group work.
Groupwork part 1
Read your version of the ballad and complete
the following:
1) Translate any `dialect to standard English.
2)Identify the rhyme scheme (abcd)
3)What is the stanza pattern?
4)Identify and circle any words that are
repeated.
5)Summarize the ballad in your own words.
Write six sentences.
Groupwork part 1
Arrange in groups of three. As a group, explain in writing how
the versions of the ballad differ. In complete sentences, explain
how the ballad evolves and changes as time progresses:
1How does the language itself change? (i.e. dialect)
2How does the rhyme scheme and stanza structure change?
3How is repetition used in the various versions of the ballad?
4) What details of the story change from version to version?
5What remains the same throughout the different versions?
Groupwork part 1
Ballad Production Activity:
Think about a tragic event. Write down the
information you know about the event. When
did it happen? What happened? Where did it
happen?
2. Use the information to write the first draft of
a ballad.
a) Make a when, what, and where statement,
and then add more information about what is
happening. Arrange the information in a