Reading week is a good time to take stock of the first half of term. So far we have looked at murder ballads, epic poetry, and war poetry. We've discussed the link between murder ballads and war poetry, but how does epic poetry fit in? How do you think these three genres will be tied together, and what...logically...is the next thing to look at?
Have a guess and post your answers!
The main link that I see between war poetry, murder ballads, and epic poetry is that death is involved. I'm sort of going off the outline, but logically, themes of despair and regret would follow war poetry and murder ballads.
Great! In fact you've probably seen now that we are moving into the "absurd" so you were very warm indeed!
The main link I see between war poetry, murder ballads and epic poetry is that there is a perceived "good guy" or hero in many cases. For example, within war poetry often a theme can be noticed that the poems follow a heroic individual or group who sacrifice their lives for their country. As well, as seen in epic poetry the story often follows a hero, and the details of his or her adventures. Lastly, with murder ballads there is often a perceived "good guy" or an individual who was done wrong by society or a person within their life. That the one rightfully responsible for the murder was not the murderer but rather the constructs placed on the murderer, to which he or she felt as though they had no choice but to commit the crime. (e.g., wife who fell pregnant, society and more)
Yes, the hero is central! In our material this week, what do you think happens to the hero?