Motif

an essay, or a novel, motifs in literature and in life are significant and deserve deep investigation. Due to a motif's ability to reinforce themes through symbolization, imagery, and recursion, it is a common sight in today's most famous works. A prevalent motif in American literature and movements is that of the animal. Two exceptional examples of pieces that use animal motifs successfully are, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston and The Yippie Manifesto, by Jerry Rubin. In both of these compositions, animals appear as meaningful motifs, in order to bolster a scene or movement's emotional weight and significance and to provide the audience with connections to the outside world. In Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, animals are present in many crucial scenes in the story, in order to strengthen the narrative, and in…

Chronicle of a Death Foretold describes the tale of a man that was murdered in Colombia in 20th century Colombia. Santiago Nasar was the assumed taker of Angela Vicario’s virginity, this is whom the novella is centered around. On the night of her wedding she she informed her family that she was not a virgin. On that night, her twin brothers took it upon themselves to regain their sister’s and families honor by killing the man that “took” their family honor. Marquez uses repetition of motifs…

Cassandra Clare once pointed out the importance of reading and comparing literature when she said, “Only the very weak-minded refuse to be influenced by literature and poetry.” The similarities between “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson are striking, and they deserve thorough examination. In “The Story of an Hour,” Mrs. Mallard thought that her husband died, but when she found out that he was actually still alive, she died of shock. In “Richard…

The change in melody is drastic. The first transition area starts with a D major chord in m. 44, firmly establishing home key. The melody in the transition starts in the first violins in m. 44. This melody contains a lower neighbor motif, moving from an A5 down a half-step to a G#5 back up a half-step to a A5 before descending in an arpeggio, then ascending up to D6, and then moving back down stepwise in a turning motif. The lower neighbor motif was first presented in the Primary area in mm. 1-2…

trouble not only with what he sees and how to cope, but what he doesn’t see. Erik is Paul’s older brother and he finds great joy in agonizing him. Erik is one of the characters that contrasts to Paul and his eyesight. He sees what Paul does not and vice-versa. What the author is trying to provide the reader with with the motif of sight is that physical vision does not yield you from seeing the good or bad in a person. Paul may be classified as visually impaired but he can see much more than…

In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," the narrator is mourning and coping with the loss of his love, Elenore. In the midst of drifting into sleep, the narrator is awoken by a sound coming from the other side of his chamber door. Upon opening it, the narrator is befuddled to see nothing before him and no evidence as to where the sounds came from. Again he hears the noise, this time coming from the window. As he opens it, in swoops a large raven that perches upon a bust that looms over the chamber…

Kandinsky’s love for circle motif is evident in this painting as he distributed the image of colored circles all across his canvas; he said he felt the same for his love for circle motif as he had felt for his horse motif during his Pre World-War 1 paintings. This can be shown in his painting entitled “Several Circles” (see fig.9) where he only use circle as the only form to create an abstract painting of a composition that contains an infinite possibilities of spiritual interpretation to the…

the Gaze – The Jala Motif in the decorations of Apsara Bracket Figures in the Cennakesava temple of Belur After the decline of the late Chalukyans, the northern region of their territory (present southern Karnataka) saw the rise of a dynasty named Hoysala. At their peak their kingdom spread from the Tungabhadra River in the north (Chalukyan territory) to the Kaveri river in the south (Chola territory). Originated in the hilly regions of western boundary of the Hassan district and southern…

The Tragedy of Macbeth by William Shakespeare uses motifs throughout the play to drive the plot. Motifs such as violence, guilt, and the supernatural are used to manipulate the character’s minds that drives them to make horrific decisions. During the course of the play, these motifs interconnect; as a consequence they affect the actions of the character. Although each character has his/her own visions of their future, none seem to understand the driving forces behind their behavior and…

The novel Dracula was written by Bram Stoker. It is a gothic novel that was written in 1897. These types of novels are gothic because they contain some type of mystery or horror. Gothic novels get assistance from motifs to make them more ominous. According to Dictionary.com a motif is, “a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., especially in a literary, artistic, or musical work” (“motif”). The motifs that are the biggest part of the novel are revenants, dreaming and nightmares, and the pursuit of…