Craft of Writing: Motif, Intertextuality, and Synaesthesia

Hi there! Below you will find three Craft of Writing mini-lessons that support students in practising their writing craft all year-round. You can find a range of other Craft of Writing resources here. The mini-lesson approach involves examining a writing technique in a ten minute segment at the start of each lesson - students are shown how to use the technique, alongside contextual examples, and then asked to put it into practice.

Motif

What is it: An image, sound, action, idea, phrase, word or anything else that repeatedly occurs throughout a text. This is used as a form of symbolism suggestive of a theme or message that the author wants to convey. (See also: symbolism, generic conventions)

Examples:

• The appearance of straight lines and harsh geometric shapes whenever the rabbit characters are seen in the picture book The Rabbits, which is suggestive of their association with artificial human-made structures. (The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan)
• The repeated references to performance and terms associated with it in Prospero's speeches. (The Tempest by William Shakespeare)
• Felix's recurring use of metaphorical language associated with magic. (Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood)

Why use it:

• Reinforces the thematic core of a text and helps a writer convey their thesis.
• Creates another level of communication in the text that can allow some readers to pick up on ideas that they might normally not pick up on.
• Contributes to a sense of mood or atmosphere in the text. Can reinforce setting with motifs associated with specific generic conventions.

Quick Activity: Accepting that a book is a symbol of knowledge, write a paragraph about an intelligent character washed up on an island that uses this symbol as a motif. It can be the literal inclusion of a book, language related to books, and/or both.

Textual Allusion / Intertextuality

What is it: Intertextuality is the use of other texts to build meaning in a new text. This can include the merging of texts, the retelling of an older text, rewriting texts in a modern context, borrowing parts of texts in order to comment on genre and narrative ideas, etc. A textual allusion is just a single reference to another text within the text, usually without affecting the narrative in a significant way. Textual allusions may or may not contribution to intertextuality. (See also: analogy, adaptation, appropriation, pastiche)

Examples:

• INTERTEXTUALITY: Hag-Seed features a production of The Tempest as a way to provide parallels between the original play and its own retelling of the play. (Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood)
• TEXTUAL ALLUSION: 8Handz plays the song Ride the Lightning by Metallica while Sal and Tony are locked into a cell. (Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood)
• "A fever of panic against an unseen evil, as though Perth were Gotham City itself" - Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey.

Why use it:

• Adds layers of meaning to a work of fiction - the use of a familiar reference can change the reader's perspective of either the new text or the older one, or both.
• Can clarify meaning when discussing complicated ideas - provides a frame of reference for the reader to identify.

Quick Activity: Describe something by using a reference to a text you have read in English.

Synaesthesia

What is it: A figure of speech in which one of the five primary senses is used in the place of another. Usually used as part of a metaphor or simile as this allows for a sense to refer to something that is completely unrelated to it, such as describing abstract concepts using colours; or smell, taste or sound-based adjectives and verbs used in unexpected places.

Examples:

• "The smell of misery, lying over everyone within like an enchantment" - Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
• "The words cut the air like a dagger" - The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
• "Taste the rainbow" - Skittles advertisement

Why use it:

• Demonstrates creativity when communicating ideas and adds layers of meaning to a text.
• Can reinforce a motif through describing a variety of things using vocabulary related to one particular sense.
• Some authors can use it to create humour by surprising and deliberately confusing the reader.

Quick Activity: Use a taste to describe something unrelated to taste. Use a sound to describe something unrelated to sound. Use a colour to describe something that cannot be seen. 

Here are the three writing elements all in one sheet for ease of use:

• Writology Issue 9

Happy writing!