Question

Which two of these characteristics are common to epics and ballads Both originated from the oral poetic tradition. Both revolve around the exploits of a central hero. Both use iambic pentameter and a simple rhyme scheme. Both contain the elements of a narrative. Both are exclusively focused on mythological stories.

Answer 1

Both originated from the oral poetic tradition. Both contain the elements of a narrative.

Process of elimination can be a helpful strategy for questions where you have more than one right answer. Let's use the Odyssey, a famous epic, as a way to eliminate some answers. The Odyssey is not written in iambic pentameter, nor does it have a rhyme scheme. It also does not exclusively focus on a mythological story. It is a narrative (story), it does originate from the oral tradition, and it does revolve around the exploits of a central hero (Odysseus). Unlike epic poetry, ballads have a rhyme scheme but do not revolve around the exploits of a central hero. For example, Poe's Annabel Lee is a ballad. It has a rhyme scheme. It focuses on the speakers love for Annabel Lee.

Answer 2

The correct answers are A. Both originated from the oral poetic tradition and D. Both contain the elements of a narrative

Step-by-step explanation:

The Epic a long narrative poem that originated as part of the poetic tradition in Ancient Grece and whose main purpose is to tell the actions of a hero or heroine that faces supernatural forces and represent a positive example of moral. Examples of epic poems include "The Illiad" and "The Odyssey" by Homer. Similar to Epic, ballads are poems that are part of the poetic tradition and originated during the middle ages, but whose main purpose is to tell stories of any kind including dramatic, romantic or funny story and depicting almost any type of characters. In terms of metric the ballads are composed by quatrians (four-line stanzas) while epics do not have a unique type of verse. Thus, it can be concluded the two characteristics ballads and epics share is that they both originated from the oral poetic tradition as they both are form of poems and use to be sung or told by people and that they both contain the elements of a narrative as they tell stories and therefore include narrative elements such as characters, conflict or narrator.