Overview of Symbolism for ENGL 257G

1. Symbolism
In Literature
& Life

2. When things represent ideas
they’re symbols
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A mask hides our true face
with a false one. That might
be just plain fun on
Halloween or at a costume
party. In other contexts,
however, it means
something. In the short film
“Identity,” set in a high
school, physical masks
symbolize – stand in for,
evoke -- a set of ideas about
conformity, self doubt and
fear.

3. Actions can be symbolic too
Taking off that false
face is important. It
carries meaning: I
reclaim my identity.
Taking it off is a
symbolic act. And a
big deal in the film.
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4. Symbols & Symbolic actions in our lives
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Getting matching
tattoos is a weighty
symbolic action:
tattoos are permanent.
And here the tattoos
themselves are
symbols. They say, We
fit together like lock
and key. Or perhaps
You open me.

5. Symbols can be broken
down into 4 types:
Cultural/conventional
Universal
Personal
Literary
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6. Cultural/conventional Symbols
Symbolism. ENGL 257G
Within a culture, things & actions become linked to
certain concepts that most everyone in that culture
understands.
• The color red = warning, danger (stop lights, fire trucks)
• Red line = not (don’t cross, don’t feed the geese)
• Doves = peace (releasing doves at opening ceremony)
• Water = purification (baptism, washing before prayer)
• Circle = wholeness, unity (wedding rings)
• The flag = love of country
(on veteran’s graves)
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7. Cultural Symbols are not Global
In European-American culture black has come to symbolize
death and is worn at funerals. In other cultures, Asian for
example, white symbolizes death and is worn at funerals.
Traveling can be disorienting because of changing symbols.
Even shaking the head left and right, no in the United
States, means yes in some other places. Could lead to
some amusing misunderstandings!
For up to 10 Bonus Points, tell the story of a time
when you misunderstood a cultural symbol.
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8. Universal Symbols
Some Things and actions have the same symbolic
meaning around the world because we share biology
and, well, a world.
• Morning = new beginnings
• Green = spring, rebirth
• Candle = a light in the darkness
• Lions = power
• Chains = bondage
Caution. What IS universal? Darkness = danger,
or safety? Red = blood/death or (in China) joy/marriage?
Are snakes symbolic of evil in every culture?
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9. The serpent has a bad reputation
in Judeo-Christian cultures
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But in
other
cultures it
symbolizes
spiritual
energy

10. Personal Symbols
Our personal context gives meaning to things &
actions:
• A sled stands for lost winter fun to a child who
moved to Florida.
• The smell of butterscotch means Gramma, because
she always has butterscotch gum in her purse.
• Geese leaving means change to one person; geese
leaving, to another, means togetherness.
• For some families, touching the lawn gnome before
a trip means “We’ll be back.”
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11. Read the symbolism in your life
• Are there actions you repeat, for good luck?
• Do you have recurring dreams?
• Do you own things you associate with friends and family?
Items you’d hate to lose?
• If your best friend moved far away forever, what would you
give him/her to remember you by?
• Do you have a tattoo? What does it mean to you? What
would it mean if you had it removed?
• Do you own anything that if you lost it would ruin your
day? (And not just because of the cost.)
• Do certain numbers when you see them convey some
meaning to you?
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12. Literary Symbols
Creative writers, film makers, song writers, visual
artists all create about and for people in cultural
contexts. They can’t not use symbols. Even words are
symbols – just marks on the page that stand for things
and ideas. C A T =
As we consume culture, we absorb the symbols like a
plant absorbs light. In studying literature, we look
closer at symbols and symbolic actions in order to get
the full meaning and enjoyment. We also deepen our
understanding of ourselves and our multi-cultural
culture.
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13. Something is a literary symbol if it…
• Keeps coming up.
• Is given detailed and poetic description.
• Appears in prominent places – the title, first
sentence, the ending, the climax.
• Suggests the theme.
• Is dynamic, gathering meaning throughout the
piece.
• Is deep, not easy to pin down, carrying more
meaning than even the writer knows.
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14. The Shawl as Symbol
In “The Shawl” we know the shawl is a symbol
because it’s in the title, the first paragraph and
elsewhere, and very dramatically in the ending. It
gathers meaning as the story goes. We get the
sense that as Ozick was writing, the shawl itself
took over, drawing the best, most poetic writing out
of her. For example: “no one could reach inside the
little house of the shawl’s windings” (932), and “the
ash-stippled wind made a clown of Magda’s shawl”
(934).
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15. The shawl also gains symbolic weight thanks to
what the narrator tells us about it and what the
characters believe. We’re told “It was a magic
shawl” (933), and it hides the starving toddler. No
wonder Stella takes it.
A symbol in the hands of a good writer wields
tremendous power. Whatever actions characters do
to and with the symbol become symbolic in
themselves. Full of meaning. “And Rosa drank
Magda’s shawl until it dried” (935). Several
paragraphs of an essay could be devoting to that
symbolic action.
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16. The iron in “I Stand Here Ironing”
It’s clear the iron is a symbol. It’s in the title, first
paragraph, and the poetic, weighty last sentences:
“Let her be. So all that is in her will not bloom—but in
how many does it? There is still enough left to live by.
Only help her to know—help make it so there is cause for
her to know—that she is more than this dress on the
ironing board. helpless before the iron.”
Having learned about all she went through, we can just
feel all that the iron stands for. The symbol delivers so
much meaning into our hearts and minds.
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17. Theme and Symbol Work Together
Theme and symbolism work hand in hand; both
relate to the deepest meaning of the piece. Think
of Theme as the message, moral or lesson that the
piece can be boiled down into. Symbols carry the
theme from the writer’s to the reader’s mind.
Think of them as bubbles of meaning rising up
from the depths of the piece to pop on the
surface. As you examine the pieces you choose for
Essays #2 and #3, follow the symbols to the
theme.
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18. Symbol Questions for Essay #2
• What objects or actions receive extra description?
• Does a main character do anything that feels (to you or to them)
like a ceremony or ritual? What does it mean to them? To you?
• Is there a central symbol in either of these pieces as big as the
shawl is in that story?
• Which author uses symbols and symbolism more, with more skill?
• Does deconstructing a symbol help me understand and explain the
harder of these pieces?
• Are there any things or actions that are found in both pieces? Do
they carry the same meaning? If not, great: us that.
• Are there the same conventional symbols in either of these pieces?
If so are they set in different places or times, classes or contexts?
Great: contrast the symbols to say something about those different
places, times etc.
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