DENOTATIVE ANALYSIS
In the first five stanzas, Lord Randal's mother wants to know where her son has been. 
He answers that he has been at the greenwood and that he is very tired with hunting 
and wants to go to bed. He also tells his mother that, at the greenwood, he met his 
true-love who gave him “Eels fried” to eat. Finally, he explains that his hawks and hounds
 ate his leavings and died.
In the last five stanzas, the reader realizes that Lord Randal has been poisoned and will 
die soon. Lord Randal's mother asks him what he is going to leave to his family. 
He answers that he is leaving twenty-four milk cows to her, his gold and silver to his sister, 
his houses and lands to his brother. Finally his mother wants to know what he wants to leave to 
his true-love. He answers that he wants to leave “hell and fire”: it seems that Lord Randal wants 
to take vengeance on his true-love who has poisoned him.


ARGUMENTATIVE TEXT: Lord Randal is on the point of dying. He declars his will to his mother. 
After considering the denotative level, wright an argumentative text about what you learn about 
middle ages thanks to the poem.

After having carried out the denotative analysis of the poem, I would like to draw 
some conclusions on the social condition and life of the Middle Ages, with appropriate
 references to the text to justify my statements.

MOTHERS, IN THE MIDDLE AGES, PROVIDE A GREAT LOVE FOR THE MALE SONS: 
as we note from the insistence in the use of terms such as "handsome" and "my son",
 mothers were just very often attacked by their sons in the Middle Ages, a condition that 
currently it is known in the same way.

IN THE MIDDLE AGES THERE WAS A GREAT CULTURE FOR HUNTING: 
as can be seen from the text, in the Middle Ages there was a real culture for 
hunting among the nobles, in fact Lord Randal went hunting with "hawks and hounds", 
animals that were used already then for the carry-over of the hunted animals.

THE SUBDIVISION OF HERITAGES IN THE MIDDLE AGES: 
if the firstborn died, the second son received greater wealth, lands and territories, 
so that they continued to be managed, the sister was given gold and silver to make them 
look rich, so that he found a noble and rich man; finally, the mother was given minor goods.