-As mentioned in class today, you should start to work on your final project ballad. It will be due on Thursday next week. You will have Monday’s class to work on it but you will probably want to get started on it this weekend. Only finding a topic, may not be leave you enough time. Here is the project outline so that you can gauge your time wisely.
Ballad Project:
You will need to find a topic that you are passionate about. Create a plot graph/outline that reveals the points that you will cover about your chosen topic. You will want to have approximately 10-14 points on your plot graph/outline. You need to explain the issue and present the cause and effect, or the problem and the solution, or the beginning and the end. Remember the purpose of a ballad is to tell a story or inform the audience on a topic, or call to action, in a logical progression. The ideas need to flow together, similar to the examples from class.
Your ballad will use the same rhythm as the poem “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”. A major part of this mark is using the correct rhythm.
You will have to make a stanza for each of the points from your plot graph/outline. If you have 10 points you will need 10 stanzas. This is just like the “Coffeehouse” ballad we worked on in class but we deconstructed the poem whereas now, you will be constructing the ballad from the points.
You will need to make sure that you follow the traditional 3R’s (rhythm, rhyme scheme, and have a repeated stanza). You will need a minimum of 10 original stanzas.
Presentation Day: You will need to hand in the following things:
1. Plot graph
2. Ballad – don’t forget to mark the rhythm and the rhyme scheme. Highlight the repeated stanza(s).
3. Rubric with your name on it. (I will give you this next week)
A key part of this assignment is to demonstrate that you can say the rhythm. Don’t forget that Ballads were originally meant to be an oral tradition.