American Literature / Unit 2 AML 0113 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Motif, Leitmotif, and Repetition
Captions available
The idea
A motif is an image, phrase or situation that recurs through a work and accumulates meaning as it goes. Repetition signals importance without stating it, and a reader who notices a detail's second appearance has usually found the question.
In practice
The second appearance is the signal.
Where people slip
A motif builds meaning; a symbol carries it.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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