Analysis of Literary Devices used in Dudley Randall's "Booke

             In order to begin to understand the literary devices used in Dudley Randall's poem, "Booker T and W.E.B.", one should understand the history of not only the man, but the times in which this form of artistic expression lends itself. Dudley Randall was born January 14, 1914. He spent years of his early life writing poetry and after serving in the United States military during World War II, he returned to this country from the Pacific with the realization that he still was not considered a whole and complete person by the country he had risked his life defending. His written began to reflect this growing frustration and the changing times began to weigh heavily on him and his art.
             Like many of his contemporaries, Randall's work came to the forefront due to the events of this time. After the bombing of a Birmingham church in 1963, which resulted in the deaths of four young girls, he wrote the stirring poem "The Ballad of Birmingham". The poem was from the point of view of one of the mothers of one of the victims of the bombing. The poem itself is
             dripping with irony, especially in the fact that the child, who wants to go to one of the freedom marches and be a part of the Civil Rights Movement is denied that by her mother, ultimately becomes a symbol of that movement herself. While irony is a common element in many of Randall's poems, in the poem that will be analyzed, the one literary device used is dialogue.
             As a literary device, dialogue is commonly used is almost any literary endeavor from poetry to fiction. In "Booker T and W.E.B", dialogue is used not only as a literary device, but as a means of conveying the diverging history and vast socio-political differences between the subjects of the piece: Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. There has never been a more fiercely debated divulgence in ideologies than those of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois. They debated for years ove...

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Analysis of Literary Devices used in Dudley Randall's "Booke. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 10:42, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/28017.html