The Sorrow of Hate Crimes Analysis Ballad of Birmingham - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 1003 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/08/02 Category Law Essay Level High school Tags: Hate Crime Essay Did you like this example? In 1963, Birmingham, Alabama experienced a grave tragedy. On September 5th, the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed and four girls lost their lives (Birmingham). In the Ballad of Birmingham, Dudley Randall portrays the tragedy of one mother who lost her daughter in the bombing. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Sorrow of Hate Crimes Analysis Ballad of Birmingham" essay for you Create order Randall was born in 1914 in Washington, D.C. He moved to Detroit, Michigan six years later. He had always been into writing poetry and had his first published poem at the age of 13. He became a part of the Black Arts Movement in the 60s. This is when he wrote a tribute to the girls who died in the bombing (Dudley). The poem is about the little girl asking her mom to go to the protest in downtown Birmingham. However, the Mother said that she could not go downtown instead she had to go to church. When she was at church it was bombed, and the little girl ended up dying (Randall line 1-32). Dudley Randall uses imagery, tone, and irony to portray the feelings of the mother because of the hate crimes. Throughout the poem, Randall uses imagery to show the different emotions of the little girls mother. It is used to show how the mother views the protest going on downtown. She views the protest as violent and unfit for a child. The Mother says that the dogs are fierce and wild (Randall 6). When she says this, she describes the dogs which help to show how the protest can be violent with the strong words. Later in the poem, Randall shows the anxiety of the Mother through the line she clawed through bits of glass and bricks (Randall 29). She is searching through the remains of the church trying to find her little girl not even caring if she hurts herself while searching. She also says the line but, baby, where are you (Randall 32). This shows the pain the mother is suffering when she is unable to find the body of her little girl. Not only does the poet use imagery to express the feelings of the mother, but also how the little girl looks before she heads to the church. He says that she is bathed rose petal sweet saying she is dressed in all white including her shoes (Randall 18). This shows the innocence of the little girl and the purity she has heading off to church. Randalls imagery paints the horrific event that the Mother experienced during the hate crime in Birmingham that brought sorrow to her. Randall uses different tones throughout the poem to portray all the emotions he wants to show. His tone is serious throughout the whole poem. In the beginning, the tone is one of innocence because of the little girls dialogue. She is asking her mother politely to attend the march with some of her friends from school, by saying Mother dear, may I go downtown/ Instead of out to play (Randall 1-2). She is innocent and does not understand all the possibilities of what may occur if she were to attend the march. But it also shows the maturity of the girl, by her asking to go downtown to attend the march it shows that even little children understand what is going on. Through the mothers dialogue, in response to the girl talking, the tone is one of seriousness. The mother understands what could occur if her little girl were to attend the march as a young black child. Therefore, the mothers dialect is associated with a serious tone. At the end of the poem, the tone is one of sadness and sorrow. The mother finds a shoe that her child was wearing and asks where are you? (Randall 32). This quote shows just how distraught the mother is at the loss of her baby. Through the mom and the little girls tone, Randall shows ho w the hate crimes really make the African American community feel. The irony is another literary device that Randall uses to convey his message of the racism and hardship that African Americans were experiencing in the 1960s. The type of irony that he uses is situational irony. Situational irony is where what is expected to happen or to be, is actually the opposite of what occurs. In the poem, the little girls mother does not want her to go to the Freedom March because she is scared her little girl might die or be attacked. This is shown when the Mother says For I fear those guns will fire (Randall 14). Instead, she sends the little girl to church to participate in the childrens choir (Randall 16). The church is supposed to be a place of holiness, of goodness, of innocence. This is why the mother feels so comfortable sending her daughter to church rather than the march. The march is supposed to be a place of violence and torture, where no child should be sent. However, on September 5th the church was a place of violence and of pain and sorrow. This is situational irony because what the church is supposed to represent was actually represented in the opposite way. Through the use of imagery, tone, and irony Randall depicts what the mother experienced through the racism that occurs in the 1960s. Imagery is used to show the violence that the mother sees and the innocence of the little girl in the poem. Randalls tone in the poem is one of seriousness, this is to show how the problems in the 60s were experiencing terrible racial discrimination. The irony is used to show how a sacred place can actually be one of grave violence and sorrow. The three of these together make a powerful poem that shows them what has happened in the 60s is a terrible, depressing event. Randall made the poem so that the pain and sorrow of the mother would be remembered and to show what the time period was like for the African Americans. He wants the poem to be remembered so that what happened then does not happen in the future.

The Rise And Fall Of The Communist Party - 1530 Words

Two men were vital to the rise and fall of the Communist Party in Russia. Their names, which are as synonymous with reform in Russian politics as they are the Communist party and Cold War, are Joseph Stalin and Mikhail Gorbachev. Both, who were born peasants, rose up the social ladder to greatness one wrung at the time. While both were radical political and economic reformers who truly left their marks on history, their policies were antipodal at best. Gorbachev was the frigid water to Stalin’s roaring fire. Stalin’s goal was to modernize and militarize Russia, and also close it to the world, thus beginning the Cold War(Stalin). Gorbachev’s career, which also focused on modernization, was dedicated to demilitarization and becoming more westernized, put a focus on opening the East to the West(History- Gorbachev). As a young man, born into poverty, Stalin became involved in criminal activities and revolutionary politics. By 1922, Stalin had risen to the newly creat ed position of general secratary of the communist party. At the time this was an insignificant post, but gave him the authority as time passed to make all party member appointments. By this point, not even Lenin could take back control (Joseph Stalin Biography). After Lenin s death in 1924, Stalin managed to climb the ladder and beat the competition for control of the party (Stalin). Stalin s policy of isolationism began after World War II, when he was convinced that Ally hostility would lead to invasionShow MoreRelatedThe Utopia Of Communism : Why No Communist Country Has Been Successful1613 Words   |  7 PagesThe Utopia of Communism: Why no Communist Country has been Successful After it was conceived from the mind of Karl Marx, a Communist form of government has appealed to many societies, especially before and during World War II. Some of the strongest countries were built on the principles of Communism, such as the USSR. 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World of Board Games free essay sample

Since a game like Forbidden Island was designed to encourage collaboration between the players, the class was divided into several small-sized self-management teams that would be responsible to learn how to play Forbidden Island together under minimal supervision. In addition to the challenging task of capturing the four treasures while keeping the island from sinking, the class was also tasked with reflecting on the course material as it applies to our individual experience as a member of the team of adventurers while playing Forbidden Island. According to organizational behavior theory, working together as a self-managed team typically allows team members to perform challenging and complex tasks that require a high level of interdependence among members. Furthermore, self-managed teams that demonstrate high group cohesiveness and collective efficacy are more likely to successfully achieve goals and accomplishments. In fact, subject matter experts agree that the tasks that are usually assigned to self-managed teams enhance intrinsic motivation by encouraging the team members to utilize a variety of skills in order to complete the entire assigned task. With a common end goal in sight, I simply assumed that, in spite of our diversity and differences, our team would have shared the belief that it should have successfully completed the assigned task in order to effectively reflect on our individual and group participation in the Forbidden Island experience. However, the experience of playing this game created a group dynamic that ultimately challenged my personal assumption that team members tend to share similar attitudes, knowledge, and behaviours that equally motivate performance driven goal attainment. At the start of the Forbidden Island exercise, our group eagerly opened the brightly coloured tin box that contained many valuable lessons that were yet to be learned. With just a few pages of game rules and instructions, and the contents of the tin box spread out across the table, we quickly found ourselves lost among things like, Treasure Cards, Flood Cards, and Adventure Cards. Using the given resources, we were essentially forced to socialize by learning the process and adopting the attitudes, knowledge, and behaviours required to function as a team of adventurers on the island. At first glance and without any previous experience, playing Forbidden Island appeared to be a rather challenging and complex task; however, being instructed to play at least three iterations of the game afforded our team the opportunity to overcome the stages of socialization with each iteration corresponding to a unique stage. For example, playing a game like Forbidden Island requires the acquisition of certain skills and attitude. Although there is no formal training offered for this game, much of the first iteration, or anticipatory socialization stage, was spent thoroughly reviewing the game’s rules and regulations in an effort to learn the necessary skills and attitudes prior to playing. Although the first iteration was played in a rather chaotic state, the second iteration, or the encounter stage, was played more definitively. At this stage, the members of our team were beginning to demonstrate conformity to the norms of Forbidden Island and to their respective role behaviours. The team was progressively becoming better acquainted with the process of beginning and ending a turn, which also included how and when to â€Å"shore up† a flooded Island tile or what to do when a â€Å"Waters Rise! † card is drawn. As the team played the third iteration, we had finally reached the role management stage of socialization. Each member was able to correctly identify with their adventurer role and special power; however instead of improving and managing their roles in Forbidden Island, several team members decided to not only redefine their roles, but to also redefine the rules and regulations of the game. While in the classroom, the task at hand was to simply learn how to play Forbidden Island, observe the game and team members, and gather information to reflect upon. In its descriptive set of game rules and role descriptions, Forbidden Island establishes specific and definitive norms that team members should adhere to and expect of one another in order to successfully play the game from beginning to end – win or lose. I recognized early on in the game that complying with the rules, or norms, would require a degree of social conformity for compliance on each team member’s behalf. In spite of team members’ individual beliefs, values, and attitudes, reaching the end goal and being able to comprehensively reflect on the Forbidden Island experience was enough of a motivation for me to conform and comply with the norms defined by the game. Regretfully, the others members in the team did not agree that social conformity for compliance would be a step towards successful completion of the game. Needless to say, I was shocked to learn that the other team members had been influenced by groupthink to continue playing Forbidden Island according to their own revised version of the game’s rules. According to goal setting theory, goals are most motivational when they are specific and challenging and when organization members are committed to them† (p. 162). Based on the definition of this theory, the sudden change in the other team members’ attitude, behavior and performance seemed inexplicable at the time. In fact, I found myself quite perplexed, and worried, by the indifference and disinterest of the other team members with respect to following the rules and playing the game. With already juxtaposed goal orientations, it would be difficult to establish a common goal once we had already started playing. Following the learning goal orientation, I was prepared to learn and develop the skills and competencies required to master the game as best as possible. While on the other hand, the other team members were focused on performance-prove goal orientation as they only played the game to win and consequently receive favourable judgment about the outcome of their performances. Research has found that when individuals have not acquired the skill or knowledge to perform tasks, such individuals will also exhibit a decrease in performance goals. It is possible that this finding may be attributed to the other team members’ lack of motivation to perform accordingly, however we had all started on a level playing field and had been given an equal opportunity to acquire the necessary skills or knowledge to participate in this activity. Although it was necessary to develop some new skills to adhere to the norms of Forbidden Island, the team members’ pre-existing skills were not integrated in this experience. We had initially been so overwhelmed and distracted by the game itself that we had neglected the importance of other skills such as, communication, leadership, collaboration, decision-making, and conflict resolution. Perhaps, given the chance to recreate this experience, I would assume a more prominent leadership role within the group. By assuming more of a leadership role, I would give myself a better chance to contribute more effectively to the overall success of the team. Although the group dynamic was disjointed at times, all of the team members were determined to continue playing the game, whether it was by the official rules or not. This behavior can be viewed as disjointed, however I think that it is also indicative of the team members’ overall motivation to continue playing the game in pursuit of their own end goals. Being in a position to emphasize the importance of establishing common end goals may increase the members’ motivation to contribute their skills and knowledge towards their team performance instead of their individual performance. For example, communicating my thoughts on the team’s proximal goal, successfully playing Forbidden Island, and the team’s distal goal, the individual reflections, may create an environment for discussing our thoughts on the task’s end goals and rules of the game. By opening the lines of communication between the team members, the team may be able to collectively reach a mutual understanding or compromise on the common end goal and how to achieve it. Forbidden Island was an experience that truly challenged my personal assumption that team members tend to share similar attitudes, knowledge, and behaviours that equally motivate performance driven goal attainment. In fact, Forbidden Island demonstrated that team members may or may not tend to share similar attitudes, knowledge, or behaviours that may or may not equally motivate performance driven goal attainment. The underlying lessons relating to group dynamic and motivation that are embedded in Forbidden Island are ones that can be applied in all arenas of life, including personal and professional. After working in the corporate world for several years and since beginning the Schulich School of Business MBA program, I have truly realized the pertinence of teamwork. Collaborating in a team dynamic offers a plethora of benefits, especially due to the increasing diversity offered by team members. Although I can appreciate the added value of diverse personalities, cultures, norms, and experiences within a working group, I also appreciate that it is this diversity that often drives people’s motivation for performance and goal attainment. In spite of my appreciation for diversity within the team dynamic, I sometimes feel as though it is this diversity that may threaten my own motivation, performance, and goal attainment. As experienced in the Forbidden Island simulation, the team members in my group and I shared different attitudes and demonstrated different behaviours ultimately affecting, and possibly modifying, how the game was intended to be played. At the time of the simulation, my motivation was strictly driven by obtaining the necessary information to complete the reflection paper and the motivation of the other team members was unknown to me. Regardless of the scenario, real-life or a board game simulation, I have learned that the unknown will inevitably question the attitudes, knowledge, and behaviours that motivate my personal performance especially within a group setting.