TUESDAY AFTERNOON (JENNIFER BROWN)
Tentative answers
Ad 1) A ballad is defined as a song or poem that tells a story (i.e. not every romantic song by the Scorpions is a ballad !). This song tells a simple everyday story, it is a narrative poem, so it is a ballad.
Ad 2) The song consists of three stanzas, interrupted by the chorus which is repeated three times. The plot is told in chronological order. The tension builds up gradually until the final climax. The song finishes with a kind of moral - shall we call it a fable of our time?
Ad 3) She is the confidant, the girlfriend and advisor. She is called over the phone.
Ad 4) 1. Stanza: Excitement, good feelings.
2. Stanza: sexual arousal, nervous tension.
3. Stanza: anticlimax, disillusionment , disappointment, sadness, shock.
Ad 5) a) Use protection !
b) Don’t party on a weekday !
Ad 6) No, she should take part of the blame. As a confidant, she should have warned Josie.
Ad 7) Of course that is a matter of taste. I like the realism of the serious everyday problem and the humour: His waterbed was broken, "I had to sit on my hands..." Although is kind of an educational song, the lesson is taught in a nice way. The language used is modern. The song has an open end.
Ad 8) The alternatives are
a) birth of a child,
b) abortion and
c) the result of the pregnancy test is negative.