Symbolism

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Symbolism

description

Symbolism. What Is a Symbol?. A symbol is an ordinary object, event, person, or animal to which we have attached a special meaning. [End of Section]. Where Do We Get Symbols?. Public symbols have been inherited, or handed down over time. are widely known. show up in art and literature. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transcript of Symbolism

Page 1: Symbolism

Symbolism

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[End of Section]

A symbol is an ordinary object, event, person, or animal to which we have attached a special meaning.

What Is a Symbol?

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Public symbols• have been inherited, or

handed down over time

• show up in art and literature

Where Do We Get Symbols?

• are widely known

Note

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What does each of these symbols stand for? Why do you think they have taken on the meanings they have?

justice luck love

Where Do We Get Symbols?

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[End of Section]

Invented symbols• come about when writers

make a character, object, or event stand for some human concern

• sometimes become well known and gain the status of public symbol

Where Do We Get Symbols?

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Writers use symbols to• suggest layers of meaning that a simple, literal

statement could never convey• speak more powerfully to the reader’s emotions

and imagination• make their stories rich and memorable

Symbols in Literature

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What might the cake symbolize in this passage?

What is your emotional response to the description of the cake?

Symbols in LiteratureQuick Check

The most prominent object was a long table with a tablecloth spread on it. . . . An épergne or centrepiece of some kind was in the middle of this cloth; it was so heavily overhung with cobwebs that its form was quite undistinguishable; . . . I saw speckled-legged spiders with blotchy bodies running home to it, and running out from it. . . .

“What do you think that is?” she asked me, again pointing with her stick; “that, where those cobwebs are?” . . .

“It’s a great cake. A bride-cake. Mine!” from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens [End of Section]