Question

Which feature is a characteristic of a ballad?

Answer 1

A ballad is simply a poem or a song which tells a story. It's meter and rhyme scheme are simple and follow a logical pattern throughout.

Answer 2

@John2891

Answer 3

is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French chanson balladée or ballade, which were originally "dancing songs".

Answer 4

Traditional ballads typically exhibit the following features:
1. simple stanzas, many of which take the form of the ballad stanza (four-line stanza usually characterized by an abcb rhyme scheme, although the rhyme may be approximate [half-rhyme] rather than perfect rhyme..the first and third lines typically have 4 accented syllables while the second and fourth lines have 3)
2. abrupt transitions b/w stanzas due to weak verses that have been dropped from the ballad at some point
3. refrains, whcih often include a nonsense line that probably resulted from a mistake or misunderstanding in oral transmission
4. stock descriptive phrases, often incorporated to make it easier for the singer to remember the words of the ballad
5. incremental repetition, the restatement of a phrase or line with a variation that adds additional information or meaning
6. dialogue used to create character and advance the story line
and
7. impersonal language that does not belie the singer's personal feelings or judgments abut the ballad's content.
Despite the "objectivity" of the singer's language, however, ballads typically veil a great deal of emotion.
Source(s):
quoted from pages 34 and 35 of _The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms_
great book for critical and literary stuff (as the title says)
lol, you were lucky that it was sitting right next to me--hope it helps!! :)