The use of a motif in Hillary Clinton's speech | English

Starter quiz

Which of the following is not true of Hillary Clinton?
- She is a lawyer.
- She is British. ✓
- She worked with Barack Obama.
- She wanted to represent the Democrats.
What is the name of the name of the international organised formed after WW2 in order to work towards peace and cooperation between nations?
- 'United Nations ' ✓
A symbol is when an object represents an idea or feeling? Which of the following objects represents love?
- a face
- a foot
- an ear
- a heart ✓
When is the best definition of an extract?
- a complete work of literature
- a selection of text taken from a larger piece of writing ✓
- a summary of the main ideas and themes from a piece of writing
- an analysis of a complex piece of writing
Which of the following is the best definition of human rights?
- rights granted to human beings under the law of their country
- basic rights for all human beings regardless of status ✓
- rights granted to some groups based on specific criteria
- rights that are exercised on occasions such as election day
Which of the following is the best definition of social and economic issues?
- challenges related to the environment
- concerns about the government and elections
- concerns associated with financial stability and well being ✓
- matters concerned with successful exam passing and employment

Match the vocabulary on the left with the synonym on the right.
- motif
  
  ⇔
  
  pattern ✓
- global
  
  ⇔
  
  worldwide ✓
- collective
  
  ⇔
  
  shared ✓
- solidarity
  
  ⇔
  
  unity ✓
- recurring
  
  ⇔
  
  ongoing ✓
The key message of Hillary Clinton's speech is that women's rights are...
- 'human rights' ✓
At which organisation did Hilllary Clinton make her speech?
- 'United Nations' ✓
Which of the following is the best definition of a motif?
- a character that appears again and again in several stories
- a recurring idea or symbol that unifies a text ✓
- an audience that is eager to hear a speech
- a language device designed for rhetorical purposes
What is the motif used in Romeo's speech about Juliet when he first sees her on the balcony? He says 'Juliet is the sun'.
- beauty
- light ✓
- daybreak
- angels
Which two elements from the following list make up the motif in Hillary Clinton's speech?
- rights
- speech ✓
- human
- women
- silence ✓

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A motif is a repeated idea within a piece of writing, that has symbolic significance.
Motifs give the opportunity to weave thematic ideas and give another layer of meaning.
Clinton uses the motif of speech and silence.
The motif suggests women have been silenced and they have not been afforded the freedom and rights of men.

Students can think a motif is a symbol used once or think it is deployed in the same way as a semantic field.

Remind them of the etymology - there has to be movement and change of the motif. A semantic field does not have to be symbolic.

Motif - a recurring idea, or symbol that contributes to the overall meaning of a work
Global - relating to the whole world
Collective - done by people acting as a group
Solidarity - unity or agreement about a feeling or action
Recurring - happening again and again