Motif

The Swastika and The Star of David, two highly recognisable symbols juxtaposed in our minds today in association with the Holocaust. The Swastika invoking the racism and genocide perpetrated by Hitler’s Nazi Party and the Star of David representing the martyrdom of the Jewish people that were persecuted. But this has not always been the case. Today I will tell you about the long and fascinating history of the two symbols and the shift in their meanings over time and through cultures. You may…

B-flat major. The first two measures use a v-i progression in g minor that is the mimicked with a modulated V-I in B-flat in measure three and four to finish the phrase with an IAC to solidify the beginning of the common double period structure. The motif then repeats itself over the v-i progression in g minor again, but changes from the original statement by staying in g minor and using a iv-i progression to provide a plagal cadence feeling by the repetition of the iv chord in mm.6-8. The first…

Chivalry at Its Finest: (A Discussion over chivalry applied to four Arthurian motifs) The Anglo-Saxon code describes a code of behavior expressed in the Beowulf text. They lived by a code of glory, duty, and respect. The English created have a similar legend that outlined their warrior code. Their code as centered in the Arthurian motif. The story of Arthur combined with other stories make up the chivalry code used by English knights. These stories include the story of the Green Knight, Song of…

illness, documenting the key protagonist John Harrowell during his forced residence within a mental intuition. By using a wide range of filmic techniques, Buckley is able to create viewer sympathy and successfully engage his audience. Symbolism and motifs are techniques that are used by directors to add depth and further meaning to their film. Buckley utilises symbolism throughout to convey the feelings and emotions that Harrowell experiences hroughout his story. At the beginning, Harrowell…

under mounds of hay, that they had used to try and shield their bodies from the cold. In “The Farmer’s Children,” the author Elizabeth Bishop uses the motifs of the moon and the cold to express the theme of how neglect may lead to a negative outcome that one may regret. The moon and…

imagination and mind. In the works "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe, and The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali, each uses the idea of the unconscious mind in which alludes to aspects of Surrealism through the setting, tone, and the use of motifs. Surrealism changed the creative style for many artists, but for Salvador Dali surrealism better explained…

Everyone has dreams, a place they want to be, a life they want to live. When I look at John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men I notice the use of dreams throughout the novel. John Steinbeck uses the motif of dreams in Of Mice and Men as an expression of hope, a contrast of reality and comfort. Dreams are used in Of Mice and Men to give characters comfort and a sense of safety. Lennie is comforted by the dream George has told him so many times. “We’ll have a big vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch and…

cruelly rejected when things go wrong. Some of the techniques applied in this film are symbolisms, repetition and motifs. The symbolic use of colour highlights the distant differences between the two worlds. The colour black represents the gothic effect associated with Edward. The bright, pastel colours show the difference between Edward’s world and the suburbia. Falling snow is also a motif, it is repeated many times in the film. Snow represents the romance genre in contrast to the gothic…

The Great Gatsby can be argued to be F. Scott Fitzgerald’s best novel. Written in the 1920s, it reflects both the time period as well as different aspects of his own life, such as his marriage. The Great Gatsby is composed of multiple complex motifs, such as eyes and materialism, which develop throughout the novel by the use of symbolism and diction, and reveal Fitzgerald’s belief that the American Dream is dead, or is not completely achievable. Firstly, eyes are used throughout the novel.…

One of the most prominent motifs throughout Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game is General Zaroff’s smile and laughter. This motif serves two purposes in the passage. First, it reveals the general’s true nature. His smile, described as showing “pointed teeth”, is in stark contrast with the rest of his face, which is described as “singularly handsome”. Zaroff’s face can be seen as a representation of his entire person. The general often smiles and chuckles when he approaches the subject of…