What elements did oral storytellers use to make their stories easier for their audiences to remember?

o'henry used irony in "the gift of the magi". this tool was essential to developing the story's theme by showing that the couple bought gifts for each other that they could not actually use at the moment. in addition, the author used this fact to show that people of the society should treasure the things they've received from others, because you may never know if they sacrificed their most treasured possession to aquire the gift.

metaphysics is one of those concepts that often falls into the "you know it when you see it" category as it is not easily reducible to a simple definition

what do you mean by that?