vcab 11.2.09

1. a spoken or written account of connected events; a story 
   
2. myth  a traditional story, esp. one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events. 
3. motif   a distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literarycomposition
4. archetype  a very typical example of a certain person or thing
5. apotheosis the highest point in the development of something; culmination orclimax
6. threshold a strip of wood, metal, or stone forming the bottom of a doorway and crossed in entering a house or room.
7. atonement reparation for a wrong or injury
 
8.  [usu. in sing. ] a thing that is helpful or beneficial mundane