Ballads

1. Ballads

2. 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

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Ballads Today we will read three examples of ballad poetry. Read “Lord Randall” and “Midwinter Blues” 818 822

6. 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.

7. Ballads Read “Ballad by Gabriela Mistral” pp 820-1

8. Pairwork Pairwork: In complete sentences, complete a chart identifying 5 characteristics of the ballad as shown by #4 on pp. 823 10 min

9. 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?”

10. 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.

11. 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

12. 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.

13. Groupwork part 1 Read your version of the ballad and complete the following: Translate any `dialect to standard English. Identify the rhyme scheme (abcd) What is the stanza pattern? Identify and circle any words that are repeated. Summarize the ballad in your own words. Write six sentences.

14. 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?

15. 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 rhyming pattern. • b. Continue the story in rhyme describe what happens next. This can be one or more stanzas. You should have at least five complete stanzas in your ballad.