Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Poetry vs. Prose

The passage I read was about how in Birmingham, Alabama Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. and a group of other people, including children fought for colored peoples rights and freedom, and to end segregation. The participated in sit-ins in restaurants and marched. Police Officers reacted with violence. They would use fire hoses and release fierce dogs at the people. Many children were hurt as well. In fact most of the protestants were children and teens, unfortunately they would get severely hurt simply for standing up for what they believe in.

The poem I read "Ballad of Birmingham" is about child who wants to march for his/her freedom in the streets of Birmingham. The child asks his/her mother for permission and her mother does not allow her to do so. Instead the mother send the child to church thinking that there he/she would be safe unlike in the Freedom March. However they bombed the church and the mother was left heartbroken. As soon as she heard the explosion she rushed to find her child but could only find the child's shoe.

In my opinion, the poem was way more interesting to read than the passage. This is so because in the poem i can feel whats going on as if it were happening in my life. In the passage there are no emotions or feelings involved.


-Yasmerlin Paulino

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