Motif

Reading the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee has helped me understand the meaning of motif. By using the motif "It's a sin to kill a mockingbird" in the book, it introduces the concept of it's a sin to kill or wrongly convict someone or something who is innocent. Before reading the book, I did not quite grasp the idea of what motif was, but after reading it, I now understand it so much better, especially because the motif of the book was captured by the major themes of the book.

Some of the major themes in the novel is racism and justice verses injustice. The Tom Robinson case is a good example of racism. The motif exemplifies the fact the Tom was wrongly convicted and killed just by the fact the he was black. It also conveys the aspect of injustice verses injustice. Tom Robinson is like the the mockingbird. Everyone who convicted him of rape were all committing the sin.

Overall I thought the book helped me understand motif better in many ways. It has also given me a lot of practice at analyzing literature. I feel that I am much better at getting the deeper meaning of a book or novel. Plus, I enjoyed reading the book, which made everything a lot easier.

Life lesson :)

Ever since I can remember playing volleyball, my dad has always told my team and I one thing; "don't say can't". Whenever he would tell us to do something in practice and someone said they can't do it, my dad would ask, "did you just say the "C" word?" Then he would make the whole team do push-ups just because one person said can't. Up until he stopped coaching my team, we would had to do push-ups almost every practice because someone said the word. We all eventually broke out of that bad habit and I still try not to say it; even in everyday life.

Having my dad tell me not to say can't at a young age has helped me in volleyball and in life. It taught me that just because you don't think you do something, doesn't mean you can't do it. I have always been someone to try something even if I don't think I can do it, but just by saying I can, has helped me even more. It's all about positive self talk. It never hurts to try. If you don't even try, you will be unsuccessful and you will never know if you would have been if you had just tried. If you do try, there is a chance that you will be successful, but even if you aren't, at least you will know. All I can say now is live with no regrets, and "don't say can't".