birmingham

In the poem Ballad of Birmingham, by Dudley Randall, written in 1969, Mr. Randall uses of irony to describe the events of the mother’s 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 (Hunter 6). It also seems very ironic that the young child is acting like an adult in this particular situation (Hunter 12). I think the mother would be the one who would want to got to the march to free her people, not the child. In the poem "Ballad of Birmingham", by Dudley Randall, written in 1969, Mr. Randall uses tone and irony to describe the events of the mothers decisions, and as well as her concern for her child's well being.

In the first stanza irony is used in order to make reading the poem more interesting. The situation in this first stanza is also very important. The little child is in a desperate situation and wants to help better the lives of the African Americans. Randall also focuses on specific culture he

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This gives the reader a sense of what is about to happen (Hunter 44). But no matter how hard the mother tries to have her daughter conform to the "whites", they are ultimately the ones who kill her (Hunter 41). These things were used on protesters and marchers to control the crowds when they grew too large and had gotten out of hand. Her mother takes pride and joy in getting her daughter ready to go to church. There is also a shift in dialogue here in the fifth stanza. She tries to dress her all in white, which is the symbol for purity.

In conclusion, I personally think that this poem was well written for the simple fact that Randall is not afraid to confront the problems that these two races had between them. Next, there is the tone of joy in the fifth stanza and in the first half of the sixth stanza. He also uses it in stanza seven to show how angry, afraid and worried her mother gets when she hears the explosion. She also dresses her in the same fashion (Hunter 36). With that said, I leave you with one last question: If her mother had let her go to the march like she asked, would she still be alive?

. He uses the saying, "No, baby, no, you may not go", in stanza two and then again in stanza four. What is ironic here is that she ended up wearing them to her funeral instead. The mother smiled to know her child was in the sacred place, but that smile was the last smile to come upon her face. He uses this in stanza five to hint to the reader that the child is an African American

female(Hunter 47).

Approximate Word count = 1207
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

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