Skellig Lesson 9: Motifs - PowerPoint

In Lesson Nine, students embark on a literary exploration of motifs within David Almond's novel 'Skellig'. The objective of the lesson is to deepen the students' understanding of how and why motifs are used by authors to convey themes and ideas. The lesson starts with an engaging activity where students are presented with images containing hidden pictures, such as a face, a baby, and a couple kissing. This visual exercise serves as a metaphor for the concept of motifs in literature—themes and ideas that may not be immediately obvious but are significant upon closer examination.

Following the initial activity, the lesson delves into the definition of a motif as an important, sometimes recurring theme or idea in a work of literature. Students are tasked with working in pairs to identify examples of motifs in 'Skellig', noting down each occurrence along with accompanying quotes from the text. They are encouraged to look for images that appear repeatedly throughout the novel. Some of the motifs that might be discovered include birds, dreams, bones, myths and legends, references to William Blake, religion, angels, flying, and death. The lesson concludes with a plenary session where students share their findings with the class, discussing the motifs identified and contemplating the reasons behind their use in the narrative.