|
ESL Forum:
Techniques and methods
in Language Teaching
Games, activities
and teaching ideas
Grammar and
Linguistics
Teaching material
Concerning
worksheets
Concerning
powerpoints
Concerning online
exercises
Make suggestions,
report errors
Ask for help
Message board
|
ESL forum >
Ask for help > meaning??
meaning??
|
sweet hannah
|
meaning??
|
|
Hi fellow teachers,
I �m at a loss. I �ll explain a ballad for my students and I need to understand some parts of it. could you help me? I �ll write them in red. The ballad is " the Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd"
Well, you say that I �m an outlaw,
You say that I �m a thief.
Here �s a Christmas dinner
For the families on relief.
Yes, as through this world I �ve wandered
I �ve seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen.
And as through your life you travel,
Yes, as through your life you roam,
You won �t never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.
and what is the writer �s attitude toward Floyd?
Thanks
|
16 Oct 2011
|
|
|
|
tancredo
|
I think the author means that appearances are deceptive. Don�t let anyone�s looks fool you. A thief may be some one very well dressed, one that writes with a fountain pen or he may be one whose looks may immediatly remind you of a gangster (six- gun).
At the same time any outlaw, any thief cares for his family.
I don �t know whether this is a good interpretation of the poem....
The writer �s attitude towards Floyd:
It�s always difficult to get into the author �s mind but as I can see it, it�s an attitude of sympathy, he may think that all thieves have a heart.. Well, it�s a bit difficult and I don�t know if I read this poem in the morning I �ll have a different opinion on it!
Anyway, good luck with the ballad!
Have a nice week!
|
17 Oct 2011
|
|
|
alien boy
|
Hi Hannah!
here�s my take on things..
"Some will rob you with a six-gun,"
- a direct reference to armed robbery...
"And some with a fountain pen."
- a direct reference to those who deal in finance & abstract law, the judiciary... people who rob & steal with the law on their side, who abuse & take advantage of others from a position of power, in word & contract.
"You won�t never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home."
- Outlaws, be they "Pretty Boy Floyd" or just another armed robber, don�t forclose on mortgages when families are in default (because of contracts set up to favor the wealthy).
The author is drawing parrelels between such folk as Robin Hood or Ned Kelly, depicting Floyd as a folk hero, out to help the poor & needy rather than being a self-serving criminal out to line his own pockets.
Cheers,
AB
|
17 Oct 2011
|
|
|
|
|
sweet hannah
|
Thanks a bunch! I tend to think that the idea of direct and indirect rob is more plausible since the whole chapter talks about heroes who are considered to be lawbreakers.
|
17 Oct 2011
|
|
|
