Ballad of Birmingham Question Ladder
1. Who is speaking the dialogue in the
poem?
2. According to the third stanza, why
will children march the streets of
Birmingham?
3. What is the outcome of the dialogue
in the first through fourth stanzas?
4. What happens between the fourth
and fifth stanzas?
5. Notice the specific images and
descriptions: rose-petal sweet; white
gloves on small brown hands, white
shoes. How do these details contrast with
events at the end of the poem?
7. How would this story have affected
you differently if it was a newspaper
article? Why do you think the author
chose to write about the event as a
poem?
6. Describe the mother’s reasons for
not letting her daughter go to the
Freedom March. What motivated her
to send the girl to church instead?
8. Was the ending shocking to you? Irony
is when our expectation is different from
the reality. What was ironic about “The
Ballad of Birmingham”?