Motif Madness

In the Literary World a motif can be defined as "a conspicuous element which occurs frequently in works of literature." Motifs are sometimes misunderstood or overinflated or confused with other elements like theme; and therefore we, gentle reader, treat them as a bigger difficulty than what they are intended to be.

And what they are intended to be is an easily identifiable trigger. Something we are meant to see, without much digging. To simply announce something else about to happen. No heavy lifting, then.

These conspicuous elements might include a type of incident, like the prince encountering the "loathly lady" who later turns out to be a beautiful princess in folklore.

Or a device, like Old King Hamlet visiting Hamlet to whet his appetite or memory or resolve or whatever. In fact, Elizabethan ghosts of any kind typical stand as a device to inform or advance the plot.

Or a reference. A conspicuous reference. Like anytime the Sandlot kids bring up The Great Bambino to Smalls, who has no clue about baseball. Every time the kids talk about The Babe is a reference to the greatest ballplayer of all time, but it's really a nod to how Smalls has a lot to learn. And he does.

Or a formula. Man/Woman bewitched by sorcerer/bad guy (think Snow White and the Witch or Hawkeye and Loki). We know they are coming back, right? Three strikes and you're done (think 3 pigs or 3 bears or 3 cries wolf or 3 movies against the Empire or 3 swings against the Green Knight). Formulas need solving. The motifs trigger our conclusion. That sounds like foreshadowing, and there's nothing too fancypants about that.

Music is another source of practice. Just pop in Marvel's The Avengers, close your eyes and let the music tell you who just stepped on screen. Each character carries with him/her a unique musical motif. Patriotic horns for Captain America; cool hard rock for Iron Man; other-worldly strings for Thor; you get the picture.

Or how about the Joker's motif from Dark Knight? A single, wavering, dissonant note played on a cello. Subtle and uncomfortable. Good groundwork to lay before the Joker even jumps on screen. Escalating in dissonance and volume as he becomes more agitated on screen.

Back to print. Motifs aren't fancy, and they aren't meant to be difficult. In fact, we sometimes skip over them because we feel that this thing is so obvious. It can't possibly be what we're looking for in English class. But that's the very nature of being conspicuous. So keep those eyes (and ears) wide open.

Because We Should Be Curious

Dear AP Crowd,

We just took a practice multiple choice test. In case you want to plug in some phantom scores: http://appass.com/calculators/englishliterature.