ShmoopTube

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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by ballads. We'd tell you more about them,

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but... it's too long a story.

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Which of the following is a characteristic of a ballad?

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We hopefully remember that ballads are long poems or songs that tell some kind of a story...

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...but to answer this question, we've got to remember a couple other things about them

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as well. Good thing we took our ginko biloba.

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We'll zero in on (D) first.

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We're sure that rhyming is prerequisite for all ballads, so we can take (D) out of consideration.

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Both (A) and (B) fall into the "well kinda" category.

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No one's saying a ballad can't feature larger- than-life heroes and mythical creatures.

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But ballads don't necessarily have to boast any of these things.

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Therefore both (A) and (D) out of our lives. This leaves us with choice (C), which correctly

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identifies the fact that ballads consistently have a musical, song-like quality.

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Think "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" or maybe "Ballad of a Thin Man" by Bob Dylan.

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Though some might debate about the musicality of Dylan's voice.

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Of course... there are others who would throw a brick through the window of anyone who questioned

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the primacy of Dylan, so... take it for what it's worth.

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