Middle Ages and Ballads

When did ballads become popular in English-speaking countries?

Ballads were sung in the...

• first person.
• third person.
• first person plural.

What is the traditional ballad rhyme scheme?

(a)  

What are the typical themes of medieval ballads?

Explain how the story develops in ballads.

Ballads tell a dramatic story...

• in an unbroken series of events.
• as a series of rapid flashes.
• as a series of separated episodes.

Ballads are characterised by...

• frequent repetitions.
• the rhyme scheme ABAB.
• five-lines stanzas.

The refrain in ballads consists of a repeated line or…

(a)  

What is the role of the narrator in medieval ballads?

Why did the Romans invade Britain and what did they build there?