Matilda
Describe how techniques have been used in the text
Explain how these techniques have been used to create a particular effect
In the poem Ballad of Birmingham, Dudley Randal shows the conflict between a young girl who wishes to fight for her rights and a mother who wants to protect her child. Techniques such as narrative voice, historical references and similes, and metaphors are used to illustrate how it’s nearly impossible for the daughter to escape the chaos society creates because of her race.
In this poem, Dudley Randall decided to use the effects of narrative voice and a change in dialogue. After the daughter goes to church and the mother is finally relieved that she is in a safe, sacred place the narration changes from dialogue to the third-person narrative. When the mother finds out about the bombing the reader can hear the instant panic that enters her body. Having the dialogue change into third-person illustrates how the mother feels at that moment. It takes the reader out of the safe realm that the mother and daughter created and into a voice that seems disconnected from them and is just telling their story like its a new event. The quote “Her eyes grew wet and wild” makes us feel the deranged panic that enters her body and explains to us the emotion and fear behind her words. At the beginning of the poem, it’s almost as if we are listening to the mother and daughters’ private conversation, we start to build a connection with them and understand what they are like as people.. Dudley Randall did this deliberately to show us that these are real people and after this tragic event occurs they will never return to the happiness they felt before. The writing shows that although her daughter is young she has already had enough experiences to understand that black people do not have equal rights to the rest of the world. She is determined to stand up for what’s right and her mother (like most parents) thinks it’s too dangerous for her small child. This doesn’t mean she doesn’t believe in equal rights, it’s just that she will always put her child’s safety first. Even after sending her daughter to the place that was supposed to be the safest place for her she still got taken away proving that there really is no secure place for black people in America to go during this time.
In the poem of Ballad of Birmingham, Dudley Randall uses historical references as a technique to show that his story has been many peoples’ reality. The entire poem is a reference to the march in Birmingham in 1963. Its purpose was to bring attention to the effect of the integration laws on African Americans in Birmingham. The March was led by Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Although this tragedy occurred, the march was still considered to be one of the most successful moments in the civil rights movement. Dudley Randal chose to write this poem almost like a song. Each stanza rhymes and it has a consistent flow of timing. Ballads with very emotional heartfelt lyrics and a strong message were extremely popular at the time. Dudley chose to write the poem in this style so the public would find it more appealing and compelling to a wider range of people.
Dudley Randall uses techniques such as similes and metaphors to illustrate to the reader how the brutality of police and racism affected them during this time. “For the dogs are fierce and wild, And clubs and hoses, guns and jails, Aren’t good for a little child.” This quote is a metaphor referring to the police as fierce dogs with their weapons and power they use to hold over black people or anyone protesting for equal rights in America. It spotlights the ever-present threat of violence black people face on a daily basis, still to this day. This is still a very current issue in our society especially now with the Black Lives Matter movement. In stanza 5 Dudley Randall describes the daughter saying “She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair, And bathed rose petal sweet, and drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, And white shoes on her feet.” He does this to paint the daughter as an innocent sweet child who would never hurt anyone. However, if this girl was white maybe he wouldn’t have to do this. The description keeps referring back to the colour of her white shoes and white gloves as if this colour is what defines purity and innocence. If the daughter was white this description may not have been so necessary and we would just assume that the girl is kind and harmless without any imagery that has to convince us she is. This alludes to the fact that race is often taken into account with every first impression. Many people’s opinions of others are impacted by racial stereotypes.
In conclusion, Dudley Randall uses narrative voice, historical references, and similes and metaphors to show one of the worst targeted racially motivated attacks to black in their place of worship. Although the poem seems light-hearted with its simplicity in rhyming when you reach the end you feel the enormity of the mother’s grief.
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