Lesson video

Hello and welcome to today's lesson.

My name is Ms. Watson and I'm really looking forward to teaching you today.

We're going to be looking at how writers use a motif in their writing, and you are gonna use a motif too, so that your writing becomes creative and imaginative and inventive.

I love writing lessons and I'm really looking forward to this one.

So let's get started.

So the outcome of today's lesson is that you'll be doing a piece of writing, in which you successfully use a motif.

I can't wait to see what you actually write.

Let's move on.

As ever, we're gonna begin with the key words.

They are yonder, envious, to entreat, and dynamic.

And let's look at what they mean.

Yonder is means some distance away, over there.

It's quite an old fashioned word.

If you are envious of someone, you wish you had what they had.

If you entreat someone, you beg or implore them.

And something that is dynamic is characterised by energy or action.

Now, if you would like a little bit more time to familiarise yourself with the keywords, please feel free to pause the video and join us when you are ready.

So this is the outline of today's lesson.

There's going to be two learning cycles.

We're going to start by analysing a motif in detail.

This will allow you to see how a motif works and what techniques and approaches you can use in your own writing.

And then you're gonna move on and use the motif in your own writing.

Let's move on.

I'd just like to have a quick recap.

What is a motif and why do writers use them? I'd like you to compare your ideas with those of the Oak students.

So Aisha said, "It is an image or an idea used by the writer." Andeep agreed, but he made the point, which is, this is the significant point about a motif, is that the image or the idea is used several times.

And "motifs are effective," said Jacob, "because they hold the text together," they give a kind of unity to the text.

and Jun said, yes, "they can add layers of meaning to the writing." And they do that often by taking something ordinary and giving it really deep, significant symbolic value.

Were your ideas similar to the Oak students? Have a think.

Let's move on.

So now we're going to look at how Shakespeare uses a motif in his play, "Romeo and Juliet." In this speech, Romeo is looking at Juliet who doesn't know he is there and this is what he says.

"But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, Who is already sick and pale with grief That thou her maid art far more fair than she." Just one question.

What is Romeo saying about Juliet at this point? Have a think.

He's comparing her to the sun.

Yes, he's saying that she is the sun.

And then he's saying that the sun is more beautiful than the moon, and that the moon is jealous, is envious of the sun.

And Romeo continues.

He says, "Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, Having some business, do entreat," remember that means to beg, to beg "her eyes To twinkle in their spheres till they return.

What if her eyes were there, they in her head? The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars As daylight doth a lamp; her eye in heaven Would through the airy region stream so bright That birds would sing and think it were not night." So how does Romeo describe Juliet's eyes in this section of the speech? Have a think.

He says they are like stars and also that her cheeks are brighter than the stars.

He has this kind of complex, like he's describing something that isn't actually happening.

He's imagining that the stars, the most beautiful stars in the sky have to go away and do something, have some business, and her eyes are being asked to do the work of the stars.

And they're so bright that it works.

And her cheeks are brighter than the stars.

Let's have a quick check for understanding.

Shakespeare uses a motif of light for Romeo's description of Juliet.

Is that true or false? That's right.

It's true.

But what I'd like you to do now is justify that answer.

So is it A, that he refers to the east where the sun rises so he's linking Juliet to the start of a new day, or is it he uses a nouns light, sun and stars and he also uses the adjective bright and the verb twinkle.

Have a think.

You can pause the video while you're making your choice.

That's right.

The correct answer is B.

It is true that he refers to the east where the sunrises and he does link Juliet to the start of a new day.

But the motif of light is comprised of the nouns and the adjectives and the verbs.

Okay, very well done if you've got B.

Let's move on.

Now we're going to look at that motif of light in a little bit more detail because you can use the image of light in a range of ways and that's what makes up the motif.

Some possibilities are this, you could actually use it as a literal concrete noun or verb light, for example, is a real thing, we can see light.

You could say that it is metaphorical, comparing two things and that's using the verb to be, you can personify the the symbol or the image, you could personify light, and you can compare it with something else.

That means you look for similarities and differences with other things.

I just want us to remind you of this, which is that the word motif comes from the Latin word movere, which means to move.

So a motif is dynamic, it's charged with energy, and it changes across the text, using a range of techniques to create different effects and build up layers of meaning.

And those four that we've outlined here, literal, metaphorical, personification, and comparison as some of the techniques that can be used.

Okay, so let's move on.

So let's have a quick check for understanding.

In the left column you have techniques, literal, metaphorical, comparison, and personification.

And on the right you have definitions, figurative language, comparing two things using the verb to be, figurative language in which things act or speak like people, the most basic meaning, outlining the similarities and differences between two things.

And what I'd like you to do is match the techniques with the correct definitions.

You can pause the video while you do that.

Okay, so welcome back.

How did you do? So let's have a look.

Literal is the most basic meaning.

Yes, the most concrete, basic meaning.

Metaphorical is figurative language.

It's meaningful but it's not literal.

And two things are compared using the verb to be.

Comparison is looking at similarities and differences, which means personification is where things are made to behave like people.

Very well done.

Let's move on.

Now what I'm going to put up for you is the key quotations that use the motif of light.

They are: "What light through yonder window breaks?" "It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." "Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon." "The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars." And for each of those, I want you to note down if the motif is literal, metaphorical, personification, or comparison.

And I want you to note the effect.

Now, the first one has been done for you.

So this is the first one.

It is literal that he's actually talking to the light and he's referring to the sun or possibly a lamp, and it's used to set the scene.

So you are gonna do something like that, very similar.

You are going to note down what the motif is, how it's used, and you're going to write about the effect.

You can pause the video while you do that.

Off you go.

Welcome back.

You did the activity really well, particularly noting the effect.

That's the thing in English, often it's quite easy to identify the technique being used.

But the thoughtful, interesting, insightful work is done when we start to think about the effect or why the writer used that particular technique.

So for it is the east and Juliet is the sun, you might have written, that it's a metaphor.

And comparing Juliet to the sun suggests that she's essential to his life.

The whole of the planet Earth needs the son to survive, and she is his sun, and perhaps his whole life now revolves around her.

And then he says a fair sun and kill the envious moon.

And it suggests that she's really powerful and she's going to always have victory over any of her rivals.

It's quite an aggressive image really that, gonna kill the envious moon.

And then, "the brightness of her cheeks would shame those stars" is comparison.

Her face is brighter than the stars.

The stars would be embarrassed to be compared with her.

She's beyond even the most beautiful and celestial beauty, celestial means of the stars.

That's really, really good work.

Now I want you to think about what is the overall effect of the motif.

We've seen it broken down into four different approaches, four different techniques.

What is the overall effect? You can pause the video while you have that discussion.

Now the Oak characters discussed the effect of the motif.

This is what they said.

Now Aisha said that, "The repetition of light imagery reinforces the sense of Juliet's beauty." It's a very good point.

That's often what repetition does.

It enforces, it builds up the impression that is being created.

And indeed said that with each repetition more detail is added, more is added, as if Romeo is noticing more things about Juliet.

And Jacob really focused on the celestial elements.

He says it's the sun and then it's the stars, and it's as if Juliet is the whole galaxy.

And Jun wrote all these things together and said that it's really the effect is of one of bright life-giving energy.

And also he added superiority because stars are above us.

Really good work from the Oak students.

Is there anything you would like to add, or if there's any ideas you would like to take from the Oak students, please feel free to do that now.

You can pause the video while we do that, while you do that.

Okay, so let's look again at the lesson outline.

Really good first learning cycle.

We analyse that motif in really good detail.

And now we're gonna move on to you using the motif in your own writing, you being creative with a motif.

Really looking forward to this part of the lesson.

Let's move on.

Now, this is the creative task that you've been set.

It is to use a motif to write a description about seeing something impressive for the first time.

You can see it's inspired by the Romeo and Juliet scene.

He sees something that impresses him and you are going to see something that impresses you and use a motif to describe it.

I'm gonna give you some examples.

It could be a huge flower, an ultra modern building, and of course it could be something of your choosing.

The first two are just possibles that you could use, but I don't want you to feel that you can't pick something of your own.

Jacob decided that he was going to write about a tower block and he wanted to use the motif of a monster.

What are you going to write about? Have a think.

Pause the video while you have a think about, what you are going to write about, and also the motif that you are going to use.

Pause the video while you do that.

Okay, well I hope you have an idea now, and I'm just going to show you what Jacob did next.

He used this grid to plan his writing.

So literally it's a new tower block, it's an actual building.

And he was going to be metaphorical, and he was going to say that it's a giant sized monster, and he was gonna personify it by making it sound like it roared all day.

And that was the noise from the building work.

And he was gonna compare it to a wall of soldiers.

There's interesting imagery around soldiers that they've been recruited to stand there.

So that's the plan for his writing.

Really good, I think.

This is how Jacob's writing began.

"I've been watching the building go up over the months.

It's a giant." Now let's move on.

This is how it began.

Here's his work again.

"I've been watching the building go up over the months.

It's a giant." And I want you to use this as a check for understanding because I want you to think about which of the following techniques has he not used.

These are the techniques that you can use: Comparison, metaphor, personification, and literal.

And which has he not used? You can pause the video while you think about that.

That's right, he hasn't used comparison and he hasn't used personification.

The description is literal.

It literally is a building and it's a metaphorical, it's a giant, which shows us how huge it is.

So Jacob's target would be to use the other two techniques, to go back in and personify this angry roaring giant and then compare it to the wall of soldiers.

Okay, I think Jacob's ready to go with his writing.

So let's move on with yours.

I want you now to use the same grid to plan your writing.

And when you have planned your writing, you write your paragraph.

So while you are doing that task, you need to pause the video.

I'm so looking forward to seeing what you write.

But pause the video now and off you go.

Well done and welcome back.

Very impressive approach to that task.

I think what that showed me, and it showed you, I hope, is how useful making a plan was.

'Ccause once you had made the plan and once you got started, you were really able to get into the zone of writing and stay with it.

So let's have a look how you did.

I'd like you to check your work using the following coaching questions.

Were you clear about what you were describing? Is there a point where you are use what you are describing literally? And as well as describing it literally, did you describe it metaphorically? Is there, was there some point when you said that it is something? Did you use personification? Was there some point when the item, the object, the thing you are describing acts like a human being? And did you compare it to something else? You could say that it was similar or different.

Either would be comparing.

So, use these questions to assess your work, pause the video while you do that, and then we will move on.

Now before we say goodbye, I'd like to have a short summary of what you have been learning today.

This is what you've been learning, that a motif is a recurring image or idea, and that writers use motifs to build up imaginative layers of meaning.

And Shakespeare uses a motif of light to show Romeo's impression of Juliet.

And motifs need to be dynamic.

They need to be full of energy using a range of techniques, and that you can use metaphors, personification and comparison when creating a motif.

Thank you for your hard work today.

It was great to see you working and writing and creating something really impressive.

I wish you a wonderful rest of the day and look forward to seeing you again in another lesson on writers taking a stand.

Bye for now.