Motifs (and leitmotifs)

Literary motifs

Leitmotif (Leading Motif)

• is a musical motif often played or sung as the element is introduced into the story

Practice with leitmotif

• Number your paper 1-20
• For each leitmotif you hear: try to identify the character/filmi
• Don’t recognize it? Guess ifit’s a hero or villain

Identifying Leitmotifs can

• give audible cues to future plot points
• show the audience a journey of a character
• draw thematic links between situations
• give a listener greater insight into the narrative

Literary motifs

Examples

Motif

Motif

Common Motifs

• Light and Dark
• Seasons
• Weather
• Eyes
• Color
• Animals
• Flowers/Plants
• Dreams

Motifs can echo the function of the symbol

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• Symbol (object = idea)
• Motif (recurring element)
• Theme (fundamental message)

A motif is a recurring element (object, idea, structure, or image) found in the details of a work.

Often, an author will use repetition or synonyms to elicit a particular motif.

To find motifs in a work, look for repeated or significant objects, symbols ideas, or images.

When looked at as a whole, motifs help to reveal the subject of a work and lead to understanding the work’s theme.

Several motifs may be used in a single work.

Hunger Games          Flowers

Reflections/Mirrors                                              Beauty and the Beast

Fire and Water

Motif helps the reader identify themes through the significance of the repeated item

Still confused? Consider this:

• a symbol is an image representing a larger idea
• A symbol can become a motif if repeated throughout a work.
• motif includes anything that is repeated in a novel to reinforce the main idea of the piece
• a theme is the life lesson or the point of the story

Motif

More Practice

• While the clip plays, examine: mood, character, imagery, setting
• What do we learn about the Wicked Witch through how the leitmotif changes?

Your Turn

• Read the story. Highlight/identify pattern (imagery, characterization, mood, setting, etc.)
• Characterization (Actions, effect on others, speech, looks, thoughts, etc.)
• How does the moti change to contribute to the event in the story?
• What is the theme that is helped through the otif and how it changes?
• What symbols exist in the story

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