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MOTIFS, SYMBOLS, AND TROPES
FRAME STORY
THEMES
The Notebook without it’s frame
story is a stand-
alone story. It
would have ended
with “happily ever
after shot” of Allie
getting out of the
car with her
suitcases.
Where storytellers choose to begin and end a story affects theme.
LOVE THEME FOR THE FRAME STORY
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER “HAPPILY EVER AFTER?”
FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE…
FAITHFULNESS
COMMITMENT
ALLY’S CONFLICT
CONFLICT – NOAH UNDERSTANDS
MOTIFS AND SYMBOLS
MOTIFS REPEAT
A repeated situation, incident, idea, image, or character type that is repeated throughout the movie
*A single image repeated
*Similar images repeated to reinforce the theme
SYMBOLS REPRESENT
A visual item that serves a literal purpose as part of the mis en scene but also represents or suggests an abstract idea
*A symbol that is repeated is a motif
MOTIFS AND SYMBOLS
EMPHASIS THROUGH REPETITION
EMPHASIS THROUGH CONTEXT
VALUE PLACED BY A CHARACTER
GENERALLY ACCEPTED INTERPRETATION
PLACEMENT ON SET
LIGHTING
MUSIC
BIRDS
BIRDS SYMBOLIZE FREESOM
WATER SYMBOLIZES LIFE
I don’t paint anymore….So paint
PAINTING
ALLIE’S PAINTING REPRESENTS HER AUTONOMY AND CHOICE
You asked what I do for me – I paint.
Nothing is ever really lost, or can be lost, The body, sluggish, aged, cold--the embers left from earlier fires, shall duly flame again.
Leaves
Of
Grass
Whitman
POETRY REPRESENTS ROMANCE
QUOTES FROM THE BOOK THE NOTEBOOK BY NICHOLAS SPARKS
“Poets often describe love as an emotion that we can't control, one that overwhelms logic and common sense. That's what it was like for me.”
“A living poem" had always been the words that came to mind when he tried to describe her to others.”
COLOR AS SYMBOL
NOAH IS THE ONLY ONE IN BLACK
Implies he doesn’t belong
“What do you do?”
“How much money do you make?”
“Sarah Lawrence is in New York.”
ALLIE IN RED
RED
PASSIONLOVEROMANCEDESIREVIBRANCEIMPULSEDANGERANGERCOURAGE
NOAH’S HOUSEAND RETIREMENT HOME ON THE WATERNotice how closely the two houses resemble one another.
When Noah could no longer live with Allie in the house he built for her they move to somewhere that looks like it, on the water, with a dock.
FOR NOAH THE HOUSE SYMBOLIZES ALLIE
GATES & FENCES
Noah is locked out
Ally has to break down the fence
This could or could not have been deliberate on the filmmakers part. I noticed it but haven’t seen critics point it out.
SIMILAR TROPES IN FORREST GUMP AND
THE NOTEBOOK
TROPE - uses scenarios and characters that are probably already present in audience members’ minds and expectations because they have encountered them as representations of the same idea in other stories
FRAME STORIES
FREE AS A BIRD
Say I’m a bird!
WAR TAKES BEST FRIEND
UNDELIVERED LETTERS