Transcript Ballad - WorkNotes

Ballad
It tells a story
What is a ballad?
How does it compare to a
short story?
What does it looks like?
(some excerpts as examples)
How do you write one?
Some ideas to launch your
ballad.
• A ballad tells a story (similarly to the old west or
miner’s song lyrics)
• Tells of love found or lost, an important event,
adventure, scandal, death, disaster, or personal
experience that had an impact
• Emerges with a fairly clear theme (life lesson
learned)
• 4 stanzas, each of 4 lines
• (generally, the best form is) The 2nd and the 4th
lines will rhyme in a scheme similar to
– Xxxxxx – ind (A)
– Xxxxxx –ake (B)
– Xxxxxx –ane (C)
– Xxxxxx – ake (B)
• Another scheme might be A, A, B, A
• or even A, A, B, B
A great example would be Marty Robbins’ song “El Paso” that
tells the tale of a cowboy who fatally falls for a girl who
already has an admirer
The
Ballad
A Comparison to The Short Story
A ballad is LIKE a short story in that it (should) contain a setting, a main
character (usually the narrator), a problem, some smaller events, a solving
of the main problem, and a conclusion.
A ballad is also like a short story in that almost all ballads present a theme
(love lost, boy meets girl, live for the moment, overcome, appreciate what
you have before you lose it, etc.)
A ballad DIFFERS from a short story in a few ways
1) Like most all poetry, ballads spend time on the essence of the story,
leaping from event to event and lingering on the most important
elements to convey the story (or to emphasize the message from
the story that the author wants to convey)
2) A ballad may make use of a REFRAIN (written poem form of a ballad)
or what’s known as a CHORUS (once the poem is paired with music
to create a song). This repeated stanza emphasizes the importance
of what is being said.
3) Unlike most stories (where one expects “happily ever after,”), ballads
often end in a negative or unresolved manner (due to the nature of
topics like love lost or heartbreak of another type).
Well Known Ballads
(from "The Lady In Red“ by CHRIS DE BURGH )
(a cowboy ballad by Marty Robbins, from El Paso)
Out in the West Texas town of El Paso
I fell in love with a Mexican girl.
Night-time would find me in Rosa's cantina;
Music would play and Felina would whirl.
Blacker than night were the eyes of Felina,
Wicked and evil while casting a spell.
My love was deep for this Mexican maiden;
I was in love but in vain, I could tell.
One night a wild young cowboy came in,
Wild as the West Texas wind.
Dashing and daring,
A drink he was sharing
With wicked Felina, the girl that I loved, so in anger I
Challenged his right for the love of this maiden.
Down went his hand for the gun that he wore.
My challenge was answered in less than a heart-beat;
The handsome young stranger lay dead on the floor.
"A House Is Not A Home“ by Luther Vandross
A room is a still a room
Even when there's nothin' there but gloom...
When the two of us are far apart
And one of us has a broken heart
Now and then I call your name
And suddenly your face appears
But it's just a crazy game
When it ends, it ends in tears
Pretty little darling, have a heart
Don't let one mistake keep us apart
I'm not meant to live alone
Turn this house into a home
When I climb the stairs and turn the key
Oh, please be there
Sayin' that you're still in love with me, yeah
I'm not meant to live alone
Turn this house into a home…
I've never seen you looking so lovely as you
did tonight,
I've never seen you shine so bright,
I've never seen so many men ask you if you
wanted to dance,
They're looking for a little romance, given half
a chance,
…
There's nobody here, it's just you and me,
It's where I want to be,
But I hardly know this beauty by my side,
I'll never forget the way you look tonight…
"After The Love Has Gone" was written by Foster,
David/graydon, Jay/champlin, William
(you might recognize it as lyrics from a song by
Earth, Wind, and Fire)
For a while, to love was all we could do
We were young and we knew
And our eyes were alive
Deep inside we knew our love was true
For a while, we paid no mind to the past
We knew love would last
Every night somethin' right
Would invite us to begin the dance
Somethin' happened along the way
What used to be happy was sad
Somethin' happened along the way
And yesterday was all we had
And oh, after the love has gone
How could you lead me on
And not let me stay around
Oh, oh, oh, after the love has gone
What used to be right is wrong
Can love that's lost be found…
Start with the story – don’t worry about the rhyme yet. Use this
template to help you focus on the events of which the story tells. Once
you are done with this leg of the journey, go on to the next screen for
some ideas on finding rhyme in the story you are already telling.
Start by introducing main character, when and where the
story takes place, and what the problem to be resolved is.
Sometimes the “problem” IS the INCITING INCIDENT, but often times it
is not. For example, in El Paso, the problem is that Felina already has an
admirer. The inciting incident is that the new admirer kills the first.
What other events, misdeads, rejections, or woes are there?
Like in a short story, the climax is often where the author
resolves the MAIN problem. In a ballad, there is likely to be
only ONE problem, but either way, look for its solution in the
climax
In ballads, the conclusion can be either ill fated or happily
ever after.
Does it have to rhyme?
YES AND NO. Some purveyors of English insist that it rhymes (and with a
specific pattern), but language is a living thing and many instructors accept
non-traditional rhyming patterns, or even having no rhyme at all (but that is
the very rare case) Go back a couple of pages for possible rhyme schemes.
What if I have no RHYME resource?
What then?
First of all, EVERYONE has at least one “rhyme resource,” you’ve just not
paid attention to it. Go back to your second grade memory back and
recall “word families” like CAT, SAT, RAT, MAT, FAT etc.,. Better still, take a
word you are trying to match and “walk through the alphabet” trying to
find a match using other consonants. Example, I am looking for a word to
rhyme with happy, so I think Bappy, Cappy, Dappy, Fappy, Gappy, Jappy,
Lappy, Mappy, Nappy, Pappy, Quappy (which makes me think of
“crappy”), Rappy, Sappy (and Snappy or Slappy), Tappy, Vappy, Wappy
and Zappy. Okay, so only a few are useful, but YOU FOUND A COUPLE
THAT ARE USEFUL!
Second of all, if you have the internet, you have a ton of resources. Do
not go to “ask.com” and have someone else do your homework. Instead,
go to reputable web sites like www.RhymeZone.com , www.rhymer.com
or www.wikirhymer.com . They are easy to use. Type in a word you are
trying to match and it will give you possibilities (even far fetched \
stretching options). Again, if line 2 can’t match line 1, make line 1 match
line 2! Do not be afraid of multiple drafts – REVISE until you have a
poem that tells a story, coherently, and one that has matching lines!
Third of all, if you plan on going to college, if you are in a GATE class, or
you just enjoy language, buy a good quality rhyming dictionary for your
personal library. It comes in real handy when you need it!
Assume this passage below is the
one you created (based on the book
Holes)
The Yelnats Ballad
Stanley Yelnats the 4th, born to a family curse
Falsely blamed for the theft of shoes, but it
gets worse
Sent to a camp that’s neither green nor has a
lake
XXXXXXXX
Step 1: fill in the holes in
your ballad’s narrative
The boy had never been to camp,
for goodness’ sake!
It’s hard to make friends under good
conditions
XXXXXXX
The irony is that while the judge believed that
he could not be innocent
His new friends could not believe he could be Step 2: Look up a word that rhymes with “conditions”
guilty
A solitary friend, a quiet boy named zero,
Makes a new friend in Stanley and quickly
becomes camp hero
As he runs off XXXXX
Quickly followed by Stanley who goes looking
for him
Together they find solace on God’s thumb
Eat tons of onions and revive and get ready to
run
Back to the camp, back to the holes,
Risking life, risking being raked over the coals
Treasure found! Warden thwarted!
Lawyer rescues Stanley and Zero too
Back at home, mom located
Two friends for life, curse lifted.
They did not believe him, by their own admissions
As he runs away, mostly on whim
Step 3: Now put it all together, check the rhymes
and review the finished product!
Step 4: find and fix errors in detail, logic, or typing.
Assume this passage below is the one you created (based on the book
Holes)
The Yelnats Ballad
Stanley Yelnats the 4th, born to a family curse
Falsely blamed for the theft of shoes, but it gets worse
Sent to a camp that’s neither green nor has a lake
The boy had never been to camp, for goodness’ sake!
It’s hard to make friends under good conditions
The other boys did not believe him – by their own admissions
The irony is that while the judge believed that he could not be innocent
His new friends could not believe he could be guilty
kid
A solitary friend, a quiet boy named zero,
Makes a new friend in Stanley and quickly becomes camp hero
As he runs away, mostly on whim
Quickly followed by Stanley who goes looking for him
anley makes a new friend of him
Together they find solace on God’s thumb
Eat tons of onions and revive and get ready to run
Back to the camp, back to the holes,
Risking life, risking being raked over the coals
Treasure found! Warden thwarted! Plans
Lawyer rescues Stanley and Zero too
Back at home, mom located
Two friends for life, curse lifted.
Back at home, Zero gifted
Two friends for life, curse is lifted.
Step 5: revise into draft 3
in ruin
Draft #3
Assume this passage below is the one you created
(based on the book Holes)
The Yelnats Ballad
Stanley Yelnats the 4th, born to a family curse
Falsely blamed for the theft of shoes, but it gets worse
Sent to a camp that’s neither green nor has a lake
The boy had never been to camp, for goodness’ sake!
It’s hard to make friends under good conditions
The other boys did not believe him – by their own admissions
The irony is that while the judge believed that he could not be innocent
His new friends could not believe he could be guilty
A solitary kid, a quiet boy named zero,
Stanley makes a new friend of him and quickly becomes camp hero
He runs away, mostly on whim
Quickly followed by Stanley who goes looking for him
Together they find solace on God’s thumb
Eat tons of onions and revive and get ready to run
Back to the camp, back to the holes,
Risking life, risking being raked over the coals
Treasure found! Warden thwarted! Plans in ruin!
Lawyer rescues Stanley and Zero too
Back at home, Zero is gifted,
Two friends for life, curse is lifted.
Step 6: If time allows, consider adding one or two more
stanzas to include crucial details like the first No good, pig
stealing, Yelnats being cursed by Zeroni, or Stanley carrying
a Zeroni up the mountain to get stronger.
If time does not allow, at least it looks good as is.
Use one of these ideas to launch your own ballad!
DRAMA
DRAMA
ROMANCE
ROMANCE
You are blessed: you
Two people in their
can see the future, but 70s look back on their
nobody believes you
relationship – they
(and a disaster is
met as toddlers, had a
about to happen)
crush in JH and
married after college
ACTION
An assassin comes
out of retirement to
protect your family
HORROR
FANTASY
SCIENCE
FICTION
Everyone but a few
buys the next gottahave-it gadget… only
it controls their
thoughts.
A fairytale prince
shows up to marry his
bride but she is busy
playing video games
from the future
Microchips are
embedded into
everyone’s brain
cortex. Good idea?
COMEDY
COMEDY
GRAPHIC
GRAPHIC
NOVEL
HISTORICAL
DRAMA
(COMIC BOOK)
A video of a dog
delivering pizza (or
stopping to steal a
bite) goes viral on
BlueTube
A team of
espionage agents
turns against the
government they
work for to play
Robbing Hoods.
Follow Crispus
Attucks during the
last week of his life.
Copyright 2008 KPariseau