MODULE 5

CREATIVE WRITING

``TOPIC- Lesson 1
Reading and Writing Fiction
Techniques and Literary Devices
OBJECTIVES
CONTENT STANDARD
The learners shall have an understanding of fiction as a genre and are able to analyse its elements
and techniques.
PERFORMANCE STANDARD
The learners shall be able to produce at least one striking scene for a short story.
LEARNING COMPETENCIES
Identify the various elements, techniques, and literary devices in fiction HUMSS_CW/MPIg-i-11

WARM UP

Using the graphic organizer below, write your ideas about the following:
 Symbolism
 Motif
 Foreshadowing
Use your activity notebook.

____________
____________

____________
SYMBOLS
____________
MOTIF
____________
FORESHADOWING
____________

CONTENT/LECTURE

What is a symbol?

A symbol is an object that represents something else, and in fact, are a part of your daily
life, not just a piece of literature. You may not realize it, but you encounter millions of
symbols in your everyday life, such as:

 Traffic lights: Red light means stop, green means go, and yellow means caution
 The arrow means "this way"
 A cross represents religion, or more specifically, Christianity
 Light bulb means "new idea"
 Numerals 1 and 0, put together, mean ten
 A heart means love
 Logos represent brands, like the Nike swoosh or Mac's Apple
 Even our names are symbols that represent us as individual humans
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Symbols can hold unexpected meaning, but upon further investigation, can make a lot of sense. For example,
if you read a scene that involves a skunk lurking in the background, you might wonder what that animal
could signify. But, if there's something that foul in the works of your story, like a breakup or a bit of bad
luck, the skunk begins to bring up imagery of something that is less than pleasant to experience. Thus, the
symbolism. 

To better understand symbolism, you might ask yourself to consider what a variety of everyday objects
might stand for if they were used in a piece of literation. For example, think about emotions or thoughts that
come to mind when you see the following:

 Flowers (represent nature, birth, growth, femininity, beauty)

What is a motif?

While a symbol might occur once in literature to signify an idea or an emotion, a motif can be an element or
idea that repeats throughout that piece of literature. It is closely related to a theme but is more of a supporting
role to the theme than a theme itself. It is within the pattern of repetition that the power and impact of a motif
are found. A motif could, in fact, be expressed by a collection of related symbols.

How do symbols and motifs work together?

Since multiple symbols can be used to explain a motif, let's break down a few examples. Let's say we have a
story about a family struggling to stay together, parents considering divorce. We might encounter a motif of
fragmentation that could come from several symbols that appear in a book:

 Shattered glass
 A runaway (pet, teen, car)
 An explosion
 A scattered puzzle

Sometimes a motif can also be a study on contrast, like the theme of good versus evil, or "light and dark." A
series of symbols that could represent this motif might be:

 Moon shadows (shades of darkness)

The symbols and motifs you discover in your reading will lead to the understanding of an overall theme of
your book. To find the theme of a book, you should look for an overall message or lesson. If you do
encounter the motif of "light and dark" in a book, you should think about a message that the author is trying
to send about life.

The light and dark of a story might tell us:

 Love survives death

Tip: if you see a series of symbols or a collection of motifs, but you can't come up with a theme, try inserting
a verb to describe the object. If you see a lot of references to fire, for example, you can ask yourself what
action we might associate with fire.

 Fire burns
 Fire destroys
 Fire warms
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CREATIVE WRITING

Motif and Symbol

Sometimes, examples of motif are mistakenly identified as examples of symbols. Symbols are
images, ideas, sounds, or words that represent something else, and help to understand an idea or a
thing. Motifs, on the other hand, are images, ideas, sounds, or words that help to explain the central
idea of a literary work – the theme. Moreover, a symbol may appear once or twice in a literary work,
whereas a motif is a recurring element.

Foreshadowing is a literary device in which the author gives clues about events that will happen later in the
story. Often these clues are fairly subtle so that they can only be noticed or fully understood upon a second
reading. Foreshadowing can come in the form of descriptive detail, such as storm clouds on the horizon, bits
of dialogue, and even in the names an author gives characters. For example, John Steinbeck based his novel
East of Eden on the story of Cain and Abel, and named his characters Caleb and Aron to foreshadow their
respective fates.
Common Examples of Foreshadowing
We use foreshadowing when we tell stories to friends all the time. For example, when trying to top another
person’s story, have you ever used the phrase, “Well, if you thought was bad, wait until you hear this!” Or,
if the story is a happier one, you might say, “Don’t worry, this gets better,” to signal to the listener that the
outcome will be positive. Parents sometimes tell their children, “You’ll thank me for this later,” in the hopes
of foreshadowing gratitude down the line.
Though the definition of foreshadowing as a literary device refers only to literature, in real life humans love
to predict the future. There are many different ways that humans try to guess what’s in store. Some people
like to look at astrological charts and Tarot cards, while others study weather models and try to play the
stock market. As the future is unknowable, none of these methods is infallible (though everyone has their
own biases about which of these is most trustworthy). Foreshadowing relates to our desire to know
something about what the future holds.
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CREATIVE WRITING

APPLICATION

Exercise
In Anton Chekhov’s “The Bet” (1889), the bet itself becomes the central symbol which poses
the question of just how much the human life and liberty is worth. While the banker considers
his time as more important, the young lawyer sees the money as more worthy. By the end of
the story though, the banker having lost much of his money starts to consider the bet deeply
while the aged lawyer sees no importance to it.
Symbolism and motif undeniably add depth to the meaning and significance of a story. Although there are
instances when writers unconsciously create symbols and motifs along the way, they inevitably aid the process
of writing if one already has them beforehand. In fact, having a central symbol, like that of The Scarlet Letter
or The Bet, helps guide the writing process by limiting the writer to what is necessary and relevant to the chosen
symbol. To match to the previous exercises, your dramatic premise and except for the mood, list down all
possible symbols and motifs that you plan to include in your fiction.
Motif Symbol Possible Meaning

SUUPLEMENTAL CONTENT
1. http://www.literarydevices.com/foreshadowing/
2. https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk002qsgnFtt-e4yVV_0vByuLnsho3g
%3A1594101887462&source=hp&ei=fxAEX4yWGu-
Er7wP5eiYwAo&q=symbolism+and+motif+in+fiction&oq=symbolism+and+motif+in+&gs_lcp
=CgZwc3ktYWIQAxgBMgIIADIGCAAQFhAeMgYIABAWEB4yBggAEBYQHjIGCAAQFh
AeOgQIIxAnOgUIABCRAjoECAAQQzoICAAQsQMQgwE6CggAEJECEEYQ-
QE6BwgAELEDEEM6BggAEAoQQzoFCAAQsQM6CggAELEDEIMBEEM6BAgAEA06CAg
AEBYQChAeUPwtWKhtYN-
CAWgBcAB4AIAB6wGIAdcckgEGMC4yMy4xmAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpeg&sclient=psy-
ab
3. https://www.thoughtco.com/symbols-and-motifs-in-literature-1857637#:~:text=While%20a
%20symbol%20might%20occur,throughout%20that%20piece%20of%20literature.&text=It
%20is%20within%20the%20pattern,of%20a%20motif%20are%20found.
4. https://literarydevices.net/motif/