1. Motifs

2. motif (n) - a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc. in a literary work

3. Writers use motifs to enhance and reinforce theme(s)

4. Some motifs in pieces you may be familiar with…

5. To Kill a Mockingbird: Gothic elements supernatural occurrences, gloomy and haunted settings, full moons, and so on…

6. Maycomb is a common, quiet, predictable, slow, Southern town… however, strange things (Gothic) hap pens

7. There’s a snowfall in mild Maycomb and the children build a snowman… using mud when the run out of snow…

8. Tim Johnson – the mad dog in January

9. The Radley Place…dark and creepy

10. Halloween Night – dark and scary

11. The motif of Gothic elements (dark, creepy occurrences) create tension in the novel and serve to foreshadow the troublesome events of the trial and the death of Tom Robinson.

12. Another motif in TKaM… songbirds

13. The family name Finch

14. “It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

15. Songbirds reinforce the theme of innocence

16. Motifs to look for in Macbeth…

17. 1. Visions and hallucinations…

18. The hallucinations motif reinforces the theme of supernatural interferences…

19. 2. Weather and Nature

20. The motif of weather and nature reinforce the unnatural nature has been thrown out of order

21. 3. References to clothing and garments

22. The motif of clothing and garments reinforces that what we see on the surface is not necessarily what lies underneath…

23. 4. Blood

24. Blood is one of the most- often used words in Macbeth

25. The motif of blood reinforces the guilt of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

26. 5. Sleep

27. References to sleep suggest… peace… one cannot sleep if one is not at peace

28. Sleep can also refer to “eternal sleep” the play is filled with death

29. 6. References to the number three

30. Why would the number three be important??? Could refer to the three fates Could refer to the presence of God versus evil

31. 7. References to gender

32. What does it take to be a man? References to gender suggest… Are men more inherently evil? Can a woman be ambitious and not lose her femininity?