Question

Read the poem “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall and complete the instruction that follows.

“Mother dear, may I go downtown Instead of out to play, And march the streets of Birmingham In a Freedom March today?”
“No, baby, no, you may not go, For the dogs are fierce and wild, And clubs and hoses, guns and jails Aren’t good for a little child.”
“But, mother, I won’t be alone. Other children will go with me, And march the streets of Birmingham To make our country free.”
“No, baby, no, you may not go, For I fear those guns will fire. But you may go to church instead And sing in the children’s choir.”
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. The mother smiled to know her child Was in the sacred place, But that smile was the last smile To come upon her face.
For when she heard the explosion, Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham Calling for her child.
She clawed through bits of glass and brick, Then lifted out a shoe.
“O, here’s the shoe my baby wore, But, baby, where are you?”

Analyze the way in which Randall uses sensory imagery to stir the reader’s emotions and create meaning. Use evidence from the poem to defend your analysis.

Answer 1

Randall uses sensory images to evoke innocence and, sadness and. She evokes innocence with the presence of white gloves and white shoes. She portrays sadness by the mothers actions, "Her eyes grew wet and wild"

Answer 2

The author uses sensory imagery in order to evoke an environment of hostility in contrast with an environment of innocence.

Step-by-step explanation:

Some of the main sensory images used are the dogs as fierce and wild, clubs, guns, jails, fire, explosion as images of hostility and violence; on the other hand, images of innocence evoked in Freedom, children's choir, rose petal sweet, white gloves, white shoes, sacred place. This contrast of imagery contributes to the meaning of the poem by portraying two radically different realities lived in the same context.