ELA-Author-Motif-F

Author's Craft - Motif - Print - Fiction Resources
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 * "Dancing at Lughnasa****"** by Brian Friel. Play. ISBN: 0571144799. The motif of music and dancing envelops this play. The family's first "wireless" radio emits music which evokes dancing of all kinds from the family members. This recurrent dancing evokes pagan ritual, Irish heritage, the changing times, and a nostalgia for a mythical and a real past. A film release of [|Dancing at Lughnasa] starring Meryl Streep may help reinforce the motif.

//**The Book Thief**// by Markus Zusak. Novel. 0375831002; 9780375831003. The motifs of abandonment and guilt pervade a story told by Death. A follow-up (in the trade paperback edition) of lesson ideas and activities by Pat Scales help to define motif, study //Mein Kampf// as a source of evil and develop other areas of teh author's craft. An upcoming film adaptation (2010) of this book title will be useful. [|Book Thief] elements are now on video for hel[ping teachers and students.


 * [|"Dream Variations"]** by Langston Hughes. Poem. The dream motif sits side by side with the motif of American Blues Music. As the motif of dreams emerges throughout poem by Hughes. The addition of a musical motif gives rise that American combination of Blues and Poetry. Many examples of music and readings can be found on the world wide web.

[|"To His Coy Mistress"] by Andrew Marvell. Poem. The motif of "seize the day" is common in Western Literature. It is well expressed in this famous poem with its quotable lines. The second part of the poem provides an antithetical "death" motif if the suitor and his mistress do not sieze the day.


 * "Death of a Salesman"** by Arthur Miller. Play. ISBN: 0140481346. The motif of the flute playing can be interpreted several ways: an an idyll of the American Dream, a more beautiful place, or as a warning or consumation of unrealized happyness. There are several audiovisual reinforcements of this motif in video: [|Death of a Salesman].

**[|"Why I Live at the P.O."]**by Eudora Welty. Short Story. The motif of communication and lack of communication either through language bariers or prejudice enliven a humorous piece. The reading by Eudora Welty, "Essential Welty," Caedmon compact disc, ISBN: 9780061124198; 0061124192, is one of Welty's favorite to read. It is read very quickly, so students may want to follow along with the text in front of them.