Symbolism presented, with sample analysis of "The Ancient Mariner."

1. Symbolism
In Literature & Life
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2. Prep for Essay #2
In the 2nd essay, we examine how one piece from weeks 4-7 uses a literary
element. That element could be Symbolism. As you study this lecture, think
about how you could apply ideas in it to what we’re reading and viewing. And
keep it in mind as we study new pieces in the coming weeks.
Nearly every piece of literature and most films have symbols in them.
Understanding the full meaning of those symbols, and noticing how a creator
deploys them, can broaden your understanding of the piece. And of life.
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, like bubbles of meaning rising up from the depths of the piece to pop on
the surface. What is the surface in this analogy? The people and their story,
characters and plot. We study characters and plot in Part 2 as well.
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3. 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. As many pointed
out in our discussion of the
film “Identity” masking one’s
face can stand for hiding true
identity. So the physical thing,
the mask, stands for an idea
or set of ideas.

4. 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.
There’s a forum thread
this week for discussing
symbols and symbolic
acts in our own lives.
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5. 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.

6. Symbols can be broken
down into 4 types:
1. Universal
2. Cultural/conventional
3. Personal
4. Literary
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7. 1. 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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8. The serpent has a bad reputation
in Judeo-Christian cultures
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But in
other
cultures it
symbolizes
spiritual
energy

9. 2. Cultural/conventional Symbols
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Within a culture, things & actions become linked to certain
concepts that most everyone in that culture
understands. Young children need protection and
guidance because they can’t “read” symbols yet.
• 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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10. 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 we may mis-read what we
thought were universal symbols, only to find they are cultural.
Shaking the head left and right, for example, means no in the
United States but yes in some other places. This difference once
led me to become very lost in Istanbul. I kept asking bus drivers,
with my little Turkish, “Does this bus go to Arnavutkoy?” and
they kept saying what to them meant no – head up and down –
but which I thought meant “Yes, sure, hop on.”
For 10 Bonus Points, tell the story of a time
when you misunderstood a cultural symbol.
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11. A window into another world
For up to 10 Bonus Points, read a short story written by a
writer born and raised in another country. Then send an
email with some observations about that country, based on
what you saw looking through the window of the fiction.
Some Writers to choose from: Ha Jin, Gabriel Garcia
Marquez, Chinua Achebe, Nadine Gordimer, Jhumpa Lahiri,
Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Anton Chekhov.
These writers have stories in our book or ones easily found
on-line. At the back of our book, starting on page A33, is an
index of authors. Let me know if you have trouble finding a
story to read. And if you like it, you might end up using the
story in a journal post or Essay #3.
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12. 3. Personal Symbols
Our lives – our personal contexts – make certain
things & actions meaningful to us:
• A sled may stand for lost winter fun to a child just
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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13. 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?
• We’ll share about personal symbols in the forum.
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14. 4. Literary Symbols
Creative writers, film makers, song writers, visual
artists all create within a cultural context. 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 to enjoy and
understand the piece more. We also deepen our
understanding of ourselves and our multi-cultural
culture.
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15. Criteria: Something is a symbol if…
1. It appears in prominent places – the title, first
paragraph/stanza, an emotional or plot climax,
the ending.
2. The writer lavishes it with detailed and poetic
descriptions. The tone may change.
3. It comes up several times, gathering meaning
throughout the piece.
4. It’s an item or action that is (or becomes)
important to a character. They react for example
if it’s lost or broken. They think about it a lot
and/or discuss its meaning.
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16. Is the albatross in “The Ancient
Mariner” a symbol?
Let’s see, using the 4 criteria on the previous slide. The
poem is here. Search the word “albatross” and follow.
1. Does it appear in prominent places?
a. title? no
b. first stanza – no, but it comes in 3x at end of Part I.
c. A climax? – At the end of Part I for sure. The wedding
guest the old mariner has stopped interrupts the story with,
'God save thee, ancient Mariner!
From the fiends, that plague thee thus!—
Why look'st thou so?'—With my cross-bow [says the mariner]
I shot the ALBATROSS. [caps not mine]
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17. Does it appear in prominent places? Continued
c. The mariner is disturbed that he shot the bird.
The author even puts “albatross” in caps. This is big.
We can read it as the climax and ending of Part I.
Are there other emotional climaxes? Let’s search.
No “albatross” for all of part II, though we see it
mentioned as “bird” 5 times. Lots of weather and
sea descriptions as the ship at first has smooth
sailing and then trouble. Oh wait, here comes
“albatross,” at the end of Part II. But it’s dead,
right? Dead but not gone, but look what happens to
the body,
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18. Ah! well a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.
The old mariner, telling the story, feels it all again --
how the other sailors blamed him for the bad
weather and hung the body of the good luck
albatross around his neck. Literally! And that’s a big
bird. This engraving does not exaggerate.
The bird and everything that happens to it is heavy
with meaning. Look yourself at the next “albatross,”
at the end of part IV.
So, a big YES on criteria
#1 – The albatross does
appear in prominent
places, then ends of
sections.
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19. 2. Let’s look at the 2nd criteria: Does the writer lavish
the albatross with detailed and poetic descriptions?
Does the tone change?
Let’s look at the first time the thing or action we think might be a symbol is described.
This is in Part I. The ship has set sail, an icy storm has hit, and the wedding guest is
trying to pull himself away from the strange old mariner. Who keeps on talking. “At
length did cross an Albatross,” he says
Thorough the fog it came;
As if it had been a Christian soul,
We hailed it in God's name.
It ate the food it ne'er had eat,
And round and round it flew.
The ice did split with a thunder-fit;
The helmsman steered us through!
And a good south wind sprung up behind;
The Albatross did follow,
And every day, for food or play,
Came to the mariner's hollow!
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Well . . . not a lot of physical
description of the bird, but 4 whole
stanzas describe what it does and
how everyone feels about it. The
tone is elevated. The sailors “hailed
it” (called to it). And, yay, the “the
ice did split” after the albatross
shows up. It follows them for food
and even plays. So, on criteria #2,
YES.

20. 3. Continuing our analysis (can you see how this
could become an essay?), does it come up
several times, gathering meaning? Search for
“albatross” in Parts IV, V and VI (4, 5, 6) and
decide for yourself. In fact, it’s fine to use my
analysis so far in an essay, if you do criteria 3
and 4 yourself.
4. Does it gather meaning as the poem goes on?
Does it become important to the mariner? Does
he think about the albatross a lot and discuss it
with others? What passages help answer those
questions?
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21. Symbols in “The Story of an Hour”
Give the story a quick (re) read. What do you
think is a key symbol in it? What appears in
prominent places, gets quality description with,
possibly, tone changes, gathers meaning, and is
important to the character? It doesn’t have to
be ALL those things. It just has to resonate with
a larger meaning.
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22. The Window as Symbol
Did you say the open window Mrs. Mallard gazes
out as she gathers herself? This source breaks that
down and goes on to explain how the season is also
symbolic. Remember spring is a universal symbol of
rebirth and new beginnings (good time for
weddings!). Other things to look are her name and
her heart condition. If you think you’ve found a
symbol, you have something to share in the forum
this week. And maybe a start for your Analytical
Essay!
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In the novel The Great Gatsby, which many read in high school, there is a green light at the end of
Gatsby’s dock. Many times he gazes out at it. It symbolizes all his dreams and hopes for the future. But
at the end of the book, we realize those dreams and hopes are rooted in the past. He can never reach
them. He can only gaze at the idea of them, as symbolized in the green light. It’s tragic – to want
something so much that you can never have. Here is the novel’s ending:
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year
recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter — tomorrow we
will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morning —
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the
past.
A famous
literary
symbol

24. Bonus Points Opportunity -- up to 20
added to your journal score
Use the 4 criteria on slide 15 to analyze a symbolic
thing or action in any piece we’ve studied so far or
in a poem, story or film you know well. Put your
answer in paragraphs or use the Q & A format used
in this lecture. Email in.
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