Plot Motifs

Here are some commonly used plot motifs of various stories, movies, and television series. For each, suggest two texts you know of in which the motif occurs (perhaps in a transformed version). If you're not sure whether you have actually found an example of the motif, add a question mark.

1. One of the members of the family (usually the father) leaves home (often at the beginning of the story).

2. The hero is ordered not to do something.

3. Someone gives the hero a gift which has profound (or even magical) powers and enables him to carry out some important action.

4. The hero is pursued.

5. The hero, unrecognized, arrives home or in another country.

6. The hero is married and ascends to a higher station in life.
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