motif analysi of the godfather

Writing assignment # 4: MOTIF analysis

Length: 2 ½ pages MAXIMUM, double-spaced, standard 12 point font.

 

A. Pre-writing

1. Choose a motif that you see present in The Godfather to write about. Remember:

v  In film, a motif is not always an object; it can be an atmosphere created by lighting, a sound motif of the soundtrack, or a location setting, among others.

v  A motif produces a theme. [E.g., In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy’s ruby slippers reverberate the theme of the journey back home and back to safety.]

2. Decide what that motif represents in The Godfather.

3. As in your previous assignment, begin with a list or outline of key shots of relevant scenes from the film that use the motif. Keep these organized and as detailed as possible for yourself (you will not submit your outline).

 

B. Writing

1. Describe and connect the examples in which you find the motif and apply an interpretation (leave behind tentative language like “perhaps” and “maybe”; draw clear conclusions). Talk about the theme that the motif produces.

2. Don’t be afraid to stray from the literal; always look for “signs” and symbols.

3. Incorporate a source in your piece. There are at least 3 articles available from the course readings that apply here (readings on Little Caesar and The Godfather). Use a (with and under ‘Works Cited’), not just a paraphrase. (Remember that you can use secondary sources to corroborate your interpretation, or you can use them to disagree with what your source concludes.)

4. Look back at the comments made to previous assignments. Incorporate any suggestions made there to your writing (ranging from grammar and sentence structure to organization and accuracy or application of examples).

 

As with assignment #2, this is a micro-assignment so please stay focused on one argument. Begin in the midst of your analysis. Imagine these are paragraphs at the center of a larger paper. In other words, the opening set-up should situate your analysis (without summarizing the film’s whole plot) and not be more than one or two sentences—definitely not an entire paragraph.

 

The style here is formal analysis, so please:

v  Avoid personal statements like, “I thought that was cool because…”; “I had to watch that scene twice because it was so awesome,” etc.

v  Try to go beyond obvious statements like, “The scene is shot from inside the car to show that Michael is riding in a car to the appointment.” What else can the mise-en-scene of this shot imply?

v  Work on focusing on what the viewer perceives by way of the appearance of the motif, rather than just what the characters learn (in the plot) from seeing it. E.g.: “When Clemenza pulls out the gun Michael understands what he has to do.” [Just plot] à  “Since the gun is shown in close up and is the focal point of their conversation, the viewer understands that Michael’s fateful act cannot be reversed.” [Interpretation beyond plot.]

 

Motif (narrative)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motif_(narrative)]

In narrative, a motif is any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story. Through its repetition, a motif can help produce other narrative (or literary) aspects such as theme or mood.

A narrative motif can be created through the use of imagery, structural components, language, and other narrative elements. The flute in Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman is a recurrent sound motif that conveys rural and idyllic notions. Another example from modern American literature is the green light found in the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Narratives can include multiple motifs of varying types. In Shakespeare’s play Macbeth, he uses a variety of narrative elements to create many different motifs. Imagistic references to blood and water are continually repeated. The phrase "fair is foul, and foul is fair" is echoed at many points in the play, a combination that mixes the concepts of good and evil. The play also features the central motif of the washing of hands, one that combines both verbal images and the movement of the actors.

In a narrative, a motif establishes a pattern of ideas that may serve different conceptual purposes in different works. Kurt Vonnegut, for example, in his non-linear narratives such as Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat’s Cradle makes frequent use of motif to connect different moments that might seem otherwise separated by time and space. In the American science fiction cult classic Blade Runner, director Ridley Scott uses motifs to not only establish a dark and shadowy film noir atmosphere, but also to weave together the thematic complexities of the plot. Throughout the film, the recurring motif of ‘eyes’ is connected to a constantly changing flow of images, and sometimes violent manipulations, in order to call into question our ability, and the narrator’s own, to accurately perceive and understand reality.

USAGE

While it may appear interchangeable with the related concept theme, the term ‘motif’ does differ somewhat in usage. Any number of narrative elements with symbolic significance can be classified as motifs – whether they are images, spoken or written phrases, structural or stylistic devices, or other elements like sound, physical movement, or visual components in dramatic narratives. To distinguish between a motif and theme a general rule is that a theme is abstract and a motif is concrete. A motif is not necessarily a theme. The latter is usually defined as a message, statement, or idea, while a motif is simply a detail repeated for larger symbolic meaning. In other words, a narrative motif – a detail repeated in a pattern of meaning – can produce a theme; but it can also create other narrative aspects distinct from theme. Nevertheless, the distinction between the two terms remains difficult to distinguish precisely. For instance, the term “thematic patterning” has been used to describe the way in which "recurrent thematic concepts" are patterned to produce meaning, such as the "moralistic motifs" found throughout the stories epic narrative One Thousand and One Nights.