TODAY IN CLASS
We discussed "Get Up and Bar the Door" (224-225); it is a rare example of a humorous ballad (and nobody dies!).

Then students read pp. 216-217, material about ballads, their poetic form, and the use of dialect.

Finally, there were two hand-outs with variants of two additional ballads:  "The Twa Corbies" and "Lord Randal."

Here is the link to the material on ballads as well as the three anonymous ballads we've worked with so far this week:    Ballad Intro and 3 ballads

FOR TOMORROW
Re-read the two ballad hand-outs from class: use the second version of "The Twa Corbies" to help you understand the Scots dialect version.  For "Lord Randal," read both the short and long version. Then proceed with the specific tasks outlined below:

1) I mentioned in class that REPETITION is a feature of most ballads that the book discussion leaves out.  This repetition can occur in various ways--of a word, a phrase, or a whole line.  Sometimes the repetition will be of part of the phrase, with a slight change each time it occurs.
So, Task #1:  Give examples of each type of repetition.  You only need one example per type, but overall, select examples from at least THREE ballads (book, hand-outs, or a combination).

2) "Tragedy" is an oversimplification.  Ballads often involve love gone wrong (unrequited love or bad break-ups, betrayal, infidelity, etc.), other kinds of human betrayal or wrong-doing, or sometimes things beyond human control, like sudden disaster.
So, Task #2:

• For "The Twa Corbies," what details of the ballad shed light on how/why the knight might have been killed ("new slain")? 
• For "Lord Randal," how does the LONG version of the poem provide a better explanation of why the young man died?  

3) Sometimes ballads do a good job of characterizing; sometimes they do not.  

Task #3:  

• Consider the couple in "Get Up and Bar the Door."  At the beginning of the poem, do you sympathize more with the husband or the wife?  At the end of the poem, do you feel the same way about them, or have your sympathies shifted?  In what way?
• How does the long version of "Lord Randal" help to characterize him?  What personal traits can you identify?

You should write this material down; be ready for a very quick discussion tomorrow.  I'll be calling on people, and I expect you to be prepared with ideas and information.  I am not collecting it, however.

For the rest of the class period, you will do an assessment that will involve a ballad you have NOT read as well as one that we have; however, even for that one, you'll have a copy of the text.  It may not take you the entire time, so have something else to read or  work on if you finish early.