Today I checked the biographical info. ?s #1-12 for Chaucer, and then we began discussing these ideas.
Ballads work will be checked in class on Monday instead of today.
Below is the extra credit that may be completed by next Wed., 10/19 (due date change)
Option 1: Try writing your own folk ballad in four-line stanzas on a subject of our choice. Look for possible subjects in the newspaper or on television. Your ballad should tell a brief story, perhaps about some domestic or historic tragedy, and should include at least four ballad characteristics (see p. 97). Your ballad must have at least four stanzas and include dialogue. Finally, you must perform this ballad to the class either live or via iMovie.
Option 2: Choose four popular songs of today that you feel qualify as ballads. For each, analyze how it uses traditional conventions of a ballad (see p. 97), and then what other conventions you notice it uses. Also, for each song, explain the plot (what is happening), who your "main characters" are, and what sensational, sordid or tragic subject matter is being addressed. Be sure to put the song title in quotations (ex. "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns-n-Roses) as you refer to it. These can be any genre of music you choose: rock, country, opera, folk music, etc... be creative!
