Transcript Motifs

The Shawshank Redemption
The main idea or message of a literary work.
A universal truth
A significant statement a story is making about society,
human nature, or the human condition.
Theme is not the subject of the work but instead is an insight
about life or human nature.
THEME = IDEA
•How justice and injustice are decided
•What it means to be a hero or antihero
•What it means to be a survivor
•An individual’s experience with alienation or despair
•What the future holds
•Love and hate
•A person, place, thing, or idea that stands for
something else. They are used deliberately to
reinforce meaning.
•For example, a sword may be a sword and also
symbolize justice.
•A symbol may be said to embody an idea.
A symbol may have more than one meaning, or its meaning
may change from the beginning to the end of a literary work.
Personal: a meaning uniquely associated with our experiences
Contextual: a private meaning created by an author
Cultural: a meaning uniquely influenced by our culture (ex/ dogs
represent faithfulness in China, but impurity in Indian/South Asian
cultures
Universal: a meaning that is given to a thing by most people and
cultures (ex/ lions represent deity, power and courage in many
cultures)
•A motif differs from a theme in that it can be expressed as a single word or
fragmentary phrase, while a theme usually must be expressed as a
complete sentence.
•A recurring image, word, phrase, or action that tend to create unity within
a literary work.
•Be aware that it is sometimes difficult to determine the difference
between theme, motif and symbolism.
Clothing
Seasons
Colors
Death
Supernatural Adversaries
Extraordinary Animals
Wishes
Magical Objects
Magical Powers
Deep Sleeps
Witches
Trickery
Illness
Consequences of Greed
Beautiful Princess
Flowers/plants
Foolish or Dimwitted Hero