English Literature IGCSE
Motif
What Motif means in English Literature IGCSE, as defined for Cambridge International, Pearson Edexcel.
Definitions of Motif
Exam boards and our study guides word this term in slightly different ways. Learn the version your board uses.
A recurring element, image, or idea that has symbolic significance.
A recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story.
A recurring symbol or idea that develops a theme.
A recurring image, sound, action, or other figure that has a symbolic significance.
A recurring image, idea, or symbol that develops or explains a theme.
A recurring image, sound, or symbol that has symbolic significance.
Topics that use Motif
- A Streetcar Named Desire (Cambridge International IGCSE)
- Antony and Cleopatra (Cambridge International IGCSE)
- Fire on the Mountain (Cambridge International IGCSE)
- Stories of Ourselves Volume 2 (Selected) (Cambridge International IGCSE)
- Things Fall Apart (Cambridge International IGCSE)
- To Kill a Mockingbird (Cambridge International IGCSE)
- Klara and the Sun (Pearson Edexcel IGCSE)
- Of Mice and Men (Pearson Edexcel IGCSE)
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (Pearson Edexcel IGCSE)
- The Joy Luck Club (Pearson Edexcel IGCSE)
- The Whale Rider (Pearson Edexcel IGCSE)
- To Kill a Mockingbird (Pearson Edexcel IGCSE)
- Western Lane (Pearson Edexcel IGCSE)
Related terms
- Foil
- Foreshadowing
- Juxtaposition
- Bildungsroman
- Microcosm
- Dramatic Irony
- First-person limited narrator
- Free Indirect Discourse
Using Motif in the exam
Definition questions usually carry one or two marks, and examiners look for the precise wording. Write the definition from memory, check it against the version above, and then use the term in a longer answer on the same topic so it sticks.
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