What is the difference between a literary ballad and a folk ballad? a. folk ballads were written by monks and pages long ago who kept their names secret. b. folk ballads are always sung; literary ballads are never put to music. c. a folk ballad has been passed down orally; a literary ballad has a known author. d. folk ballads use common people for their characters; literary ballads are about royalty.

The correct answer is C. A folk ballad has been passed down orally; a literary ballad has a known author.

Explanation:

A ballad is a type of poem or song used mainly to tell a story, in the case of folk ballads these are ballads that are sung by people from a specific region or culture and that are transmitted from generation to generation orally. This means, these type of poems belong to the cultural identity from multiple generations of the same culture and because of this, ballads do not a known author, instead, they just belong to the culture. On the other hand, literary ballads are ballads written by a poet to imitate folk ballads in a written way, this means most of the authors of literary ballads are experts poets and known authors and the authorship is preserved as these are written and not just pass orally. Additionally, literary ballads do not changed over time and are longer and have a more formal or elegant style than folk ballads. Thus, one of the differences between literary and folk ballads is that folk ballads have been passed down orally and the author's of them are anonymous; while literary ballads have a known author.