Extended Motifs

If you've ever taken any language arts as a class, then you've probably heard about extended motifs; lessons or morals we're suppose to take from a story. You've heard you're teacher ask you stuff like, "what does this passage mean," or "how does this pertain to the stories meaning." Well in my humble opinion, that's bull. If you find yourself having to go back and take notes and look for metaphorical meanings in every chapter of a book then you're over doing it. You shouldn't have to force yourself to look for meanings in a book, and although there are times where I agree with L.A. teachers and their interpretations of books, often very good interpretations actually, but other times its looking for nothing. A book shouldn't have an obvious, stereotypical meaning, but should find the medium between a deep and meaningful motif that is complex and subtly introduced as well as well as clear and applicable.

You should keep that in mind when writing, that you need to find that motif balance in you're works, whether its a short story, poem, or novel. These are what define many books as classics, because they have clear motifs, but are still loose enough that they can be interpreted in different ways and be discussed. These are the types of books you'd read in you're L.A. or English classes. For example, lets look at To Kill a Mockingbird, a really great book. Possible spoiler alert by the way. It takes place during a time of great segregation and racism, a time in the country when equality is not truly recognized and African Americans are seen as less than the white population. Although this plays a large part of the story, it is very rarely addressed in the first third to half of the book. Even on top of the topic of racism and equality, a rather typical motif, we get an extra layer of specificity on it, something every story's motif should have. We learn about not only recognizing racism and social inequality, but about having the bravery to stand up to it and to speak for the unspoken, literally in the case of To Kill a Mockingbird. It's really a great meaning or motif, and the best part is that it isn't truly realized until the end of the story and when it is, it's pretty clear with a bit of consideration.

This is how your extended motifs should be; clear, opinionated, strong, and unique. This will give your readers not only quality reading, but a quality lesson to learn from your writing, something you should always strive to have in your writing. Again, a good story will have quality characters and plot, as well setting, writing style, tone, and other things. But a story must have a strong motif that the readers can take away from your writing for it to be truly considered great. I hope you guys learned something new and that you will try incorporating some of these things into your writing in the future, peace.

-Ink