1 / 10

Ballads

Ballads. Folk Ballads. A song/narrative poem transmitted orally that tells a story Focuses on one incident Begins in the midst of a crisis (in medias res) Proceeds to the resolution with little background information, character development, or descriptive detail.

aricin
Download Presentation

Ballads

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Ballads

  2. Folk Ballads • A song/narrative poem transmitted orallythat tells a story • Focuses on one incident • Begins in the midst of a crisis (in medias res) • Proceeds to the resolution with little background information, character development, or descriptive detail

  3. Early Ballads often included: • Tragic love • Domestic conflicts • Wars • Shipwrecks • Sensational crimes • Exploits of outlaws

  4. Just like today with tabloid headlines and soap operas, certain forms of popular entertainment tended toward the sensational. Plot Examples: • Three dead sons visit mother for dinner • A maiden is headed for the gallows, and her family refuses to help

  5. Later ballads often included: • Historical events • Romantic heroes • These ballads were written toward end of the Middle Ages when English was accepted as a language of literary merit.

  6. Structure • Four lines per stanza • Second and fourth lines rhyme and are often shorter than the first and third lines (ABCB rhyme scheme)

  7. Usual Formula • Stock descriptive phrases • A word or phrase habitually used by a group of people: a cliché • Example: blood-red wine • One less thing for the singer to remember • Refrain in each stanza (repetition) • Contributed to the song’s rhythm and reinforced its theme • Provided the singer with time to think of the next verse • Incremental repetition • A line or stanza is repeated, but with an addition that advances the story

  8. Characteristics • Treats a highly dramatic situation in the simplest language • Uses a considerable amount of dialogue (sometimes local dialect) • Because ballads were well-known, the folk balladeer could often skip parts, which allowed him to develop parts that interested him. This accounts for the gaps in plots – “leaping and lingering”

  9. continued Characteristics • Ballads deal with: • Strong elemental passions of humanity • Powerfully depicted love • Hatred, faith, revenge, fear, courage, loyalty • Many involve the supernatural and end tragically

  10. Literary Ballads • Work of known professional poets • These poets were so impressed by the vigor and emotion of the ballads that they imitated them. • Generally more sophisticated, subtle, and subjective― more psychological • Example: “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

More Related