Motif: A unifying element in an artistic work, especially any
recurrent image, symbol, theme, character type, subject, or
narrative detail.
A given motif may be unique to a work or it may appear in
numerous works by the same author or different authors.
Source: Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms
pg. 277
Example of a motif that reoccurs
in many works.
Cinderella motif
a poor, mistreated, beautiful, kind
young girl is rescued by a
dashing, kind, rich man.
How many movies, books, etc.
can you name with this motif?
Look closely for a motif in the painting on the next slide.
Painting Information:
Title: Accused of Witchcraft (oil on canvas)
Artist: Stephen Arnold Douglas Volk
Famous American artist(1856-1935)
Born in Pittsfield, Ma.
Established his reputation by painting romanticized historical subjects depicting life in
Colonial America
Died at his retreat in Fryeburg, Maine, in 1935
Very intrigued with the historical events of the Salem Witch Trials which he did many
paintings over
Analyze the placement of hands in the painting.
What does each person’s placement of their hands symbolize?
We'll come back to this when we have read The Crucible.
·What is the difference between a motif and a
symbol?
·A symbol is a concrete object used to represent
an abstract idea, and a motif is a symbol that is
REPEATED in a work of literature, found on
multiple occasions in the same work.
Motifs in Gatsby
geography
color symbolism
Geography: Throughout the novel The Great Gatsby,
places and settings epitomize the various aspects of
the 1920's American society that Fitzgerald depicts.
Literally East Egg and West Egg are as
alike as eggs from a proper perspective of
analysis of wealth; however, they are
superficially very dissimilar.
East Egg represents the old aristocracy.
Why the East?
Think historically...settlers, colonies
Who lives in East Egg?
The East Eggers have the inherited wealth and lack the
"vulgarity" but they have been corrupted by the
purposelessness and ease their money has provided them.
West Egg represents the newly rich.
Why West?
Who lives in West Egg?
Home of those who have amassed huge fortunes
but lack the traditions associated with inherited
wealth and are therefore "vulgar".
Both kinds of wealth result in similar human
deficiencies, though manifested (originated)
differently.
The Valley of Ashes represents
the moral and social decay of
America in the 1920's.
Who lived in the Valley of
Ashes?
New York City represents the
uninhibited, amoral quest for
money and pleasure.
Who travels to the city?
On what occasions?
Drifters:
Tom, Daisy, Jordan and especially Gatsby all
lack such established traditions or have broken
them by permanently moving east, and their
consequent lack of a firm moral basis is
symbolized by the way they drift aimlessly from
place to place.
Midwest:
Who is from the Midwest?
When Nick moves east, attracted by the false values of wealth
and sophistication, his own moral sense is held in abeyance,
and when his responsibility finally asserts itself he goes back to
the Midwest, symbolically returning to a world of moral order
based on personal tradition.
Long Island: East Egg to Manhattan
The Great Gatsby pg. 206
Analysis information from paperback copy of Cliff's notes
Color Symbolism
White
Yellow/Gold
Green
Homework: Chart