Ballads

Study/Reading Guide

Terms:

  • refrain =
  • inference =
  • ballad = (see page 96 for help)

Note about dialect:

An apostrophe can indicate a missing consonant or vowel, as in wi’ for with (line 4) or din’d for dined (line 7).

Tips for Struggling Readers:

  • Turn dialect into modern English as you read each ballad. This is easier done if read aloud.
  • Use the text aids in the side margins.

from Lord Randall

  1. (the ballad) This ballad, like so many other medieval ballads, is written in a question-and-answer format. What is the effect?
  2. (Making Inferences) What is the connection between the death of the dogs and Lord Randall?
  3. (Making Inferences) Who poisoned Lord Randall?
  4. (Refrain) What effect is created by the refrain in the last two lines?
  5. (Check) What two places has Lord Randall gone to since he left home?
  6. (Check) What has happened to Lord Randall?

from Edward, Edward

  1. (Using Text Aids) How can you tell the meaning of the word sae in line 4?
  2. (Drawing Conclusions) Starting on line 25, why is Edward going away?
  3. (Refrain) Note of use of O at the end of each stanza. What effect does it have?
  4. (Making Judgments) What kind of person is Edward? Explain.
  5. (Dialect) Concerning the last stanza, why didn’t the editors decide to print this dialect in modern English?
  6. (Check) What has Edward done?

from Get Up and Bar the Door

Note: Bar the door means to “lock” it. Long ago, people would not have said “lock the door” because they used a bar, or piece of wood, placed horizontally across a door, to secure it.

Note: The “gentlemen” reveal two facts about life in the Middle Ages: (1) The times were often lawless, and citizens were at the mercy of bandits and thieves; and (2) the upper classes could treat people like the goodman and goodwife however they pleased.

  1. (the ballad) What story elements (characters, setting, situation, conflict) are introduced in the first three stanzas?
  2. (Extending the Text) In the fourth stanza, what does the pact reveal about the goodman and goodwife?
  3. (Check) What excuse does the goodwife give for not being able to bar the door?
  4. (Check) What causes the husband to speak first?

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