What Does Symbolism Mean To Me

There’s a lot of literary techniques used in “How to read literature like a professor”. One of the techniques is symbolism. In chapter 12 it talks about someone walking on a road and they encounter two roads that diverge into the woods. There’s a road that everyone uses and then there’s one that almost no one uses and he decides to take that road for some reason. “Two roads diverged into a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference”. To me this symbolizes freedom and decision making. Everyone has to make decisions in their lives ranging from what to eat during lunch to life changing decisions

The play, Romeo and Juliet has many deaths, which are usually suicides because they have lost someone they love. The novel, The Chrysalids by John Wyndham also has people risking their lives or even suicide because they will or are not able to live without the person they love. However, the short story, “No Renewal” shows that Douglas doesn’t appreciate his new lifestyle because he already made his old lifestyle part of his identity. All these texts suggest that when one loses someone or something that is part of one’s identity, one may willingly welcome death.

In the novel How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas Foster gives evidence of every season having a symbolic meaning in different pieces of literature. In most cases, the seasons can represent certain times in a person’s life, such as death or the renewal of life. Foster states that the seasons may also represent times of decline, dormancy, awakening, and even times of passion. Foster then gives examples of how the seasons are interpreted in other pieces of literature, such as Shakespeare. This makes the reader question if the seasons are symbolic in other pieces of literature and if the author used a specific season on purpose to help portray the meaning of the story they are trying to tell.

In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster explains how every thing has a symbolic meaning but finding what the symbols stand for is where it becomes tricky. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain presents to his readers many symbols that can be easily seen for their true meaning such as the rain, fog, and fear of drowning. According to Thomas C. Foster, rain symbolizes life; fog symbolizes confusion; and drowning is always one of our deepest fears. However, there are also innumerable accounts of symbols that need to be interpreted with a lot of thought from the reader. One example can be seen in the Mississippi River. The

Throughout the chapter Tomas Foster, the author of the book How to Read Literature Like a Professor consistently mentioned that symbolism was relative and it is different for each reader. There is no debate on whether something is a symbol or not because in most cases it is. Foster mentions that the meaning of the symbol differs between readers because each person has a different perspective on the story. He also presents the idea that if a symbol can be reduced to have meaning that it actually isn’t symbolism being used, but allegory. Foster presents that a symbol has multiple possible meanings and that it changes between literary work and even between reader. He states that if a person wants to figure out the meaning of a symbol they have to look deeper, use their previous knowledge, and question what is happening in order to crack the code on the meaning of the symbol. These are new ideas because most casual readers usually believe that symbols have one specific meaning in each novel. By having Foster say that there are a limitless amount of interpretations for a simple it blows the door wide open. Symbols are used throughout novels of all genres, and sometimes even ironically. Foster’s belief in the importance of intertextuality shines through throughout

Literature teaches many things, sometimes even coaches readers on how to correctly read and analyze other works of literature. The novel How to Read Literature Like a Professor, by Thomas Foster, teaches the analysis of symbolism in chapter 12 “Is that a symbol?”, used to evaluate the meanings of certain passages and quotes throughout works such as The Tragedy of King Lear, by William Shakespeare. Using the definition of symbolism, the readers background information, and learning about correct application now allows readers to develop a more in depth analysis of the words spoken by King Lear.

In the Japanese light novel “Akuma no Eros,’’ Miu Sakurai acts as the young, virginal, innocent female and Satan acts as the both attractive and illusive older figure with corrupt values. The story revolves around Miu Sakurai; a high-school girl who is in love with her classmate, Shion Amamiya. Miu summons Satan through a book and wishes for Amamiya to fall in love with her and Satan demands her virginity in return. Satan’s spells do not work on Amamiya because he is revealed to be the archangel Michael who ends up confessing his love to Miu without the spells, but Miu has feelings for Satan at this point and Satan is more than willing to make the still maturing teenage girl decide between living her normal life or marrying him and living in hell. Thus Satan robs Miu of her innocence while fueling his desires.

Using the process described in How To Read Literature Like A Professor, I analyzed a specific place in The Catcher in the Rye by asking myself questions, brainstorming meanings of other symbols, and focusing on the significance of this place in order to create a symbolic meaning that I see in the novel. More specifically, The Museum of Natural History in the novel represents more than just a simple museum, as it symbolizes the desired world in which Holden wants to live in. When Holden described how the museum appealed to him because it is “frozen and unchanging”, it is clear that he dislikes change and wishes to stay in the time that he is right now. This supports his desire to be “the catcher in the rye”, as he wishes to save children from

Symbolic imagery is intended to use descriptive language to express an abstract idea in concrete form. Light and dark imagery creates a visual interpretation that contrasts a positive and a negative concept. The novel Anthem by Ayn Rand and the short film “More” by Mark Osborne both contain symbolism in the form of black and white imagery. In Anthem, it is shown through Equality’s invention of electricity and the council of scholars rejection of it and in “More”, it is portrayed by the bland everyday world compared to the exciting and colorful world through bliss goggles.

Mortality is a moving and compelling subject. This end is a confirmation of one’s humanity and the end of one’s substance. Perhaps that is why so many writers and poets muse about their own death in their writings. Keats and John Donne are two such examples of musing poets who share the human condition experience in When I Have Fears and Holy Sonnet 1.

In the poem, the purpose of symbolism is using an object or reference to describe a deeper meaning to a story. The poem " Music of Spheres" by displayes that how to use symbolism to describe an object with deeper meaning. This poem is written by Jean Follain who was a French author, poet and corporate lawyer. The reason why I selected this poem, is because Jean Follain only used a few sentences to reflect its deep symbolic meaning of this poem. Language makes us human. It helps us to understand our everyday experience and ideas. It will become more powerful by using symbolism instead of the customary language. In the written world, the role of symbolism in the poem is significant. It produces the same feeling as

Symbolism is a very important aspect of writing good literature. Symbolism can han have a major impact on a piece of literature, it can make a bad writing really interesting or it can make a good writing have a totally different meaning. Most readers miss the symbols the first time reading through the work and they don't get it until someone teaches them or if they read it again, sometimes the symbols are hard to detect in the story or poem, and other times they can be super easy to find such as a giant red A on your chest. In 1984 the many Symbol was pretty easy to figure out and a had a big meaning for part of the book which was really fascinating once you figured it out. Overall symbolism is very important and hopefully everyone who reads this will realize that.

When first thought about, love and death seem like two completely different concepts. Death is universally seen as an end to life on Earth which is hard for people to fathom. However, love is seen as an indefinite journey even after death has come to it. The poems discussed in this essay explore those concepts and find similarities between two ideas that seem as different as two things could be. In William Butler Yeats’s “When You Are Old,” and José Emilio Pacheco’s “Ashes,” the physical sense of death and love are explored. And in Shakespeare’s “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?”and John Donne’s “Death be Not Proud,” the metaphysical understanding of the two are analyzed. These poems show that death is an end and love can die, but also,

Emily Dickinson once said, “Dying is a wild night and a new road.” Some people welcome death with open arms while others cower in fear when confronted in the arms of death. Through the use of ambiguity, metaphors, personification and paradoxes Emily Dickinson still gives readers a sense of vagueness on how she feels about dying. Emily Dickinson inventively expresses the nature of death in the poems, “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain (280)”, “I Heard a fly Buzz—When I Died—(465)“ and “Because I could not stop for Death—(712)”.

“Life, no matter how we choose to look at it, is a constant battle. It is the beginning of a struggle that continues until we breathe our last breath” There are many poems representing death affirms individuality and freedom spirit of poets, poems can let many people experience the scream before the death. “Do Not Go Gentle into the Night,” by Dylan Thomas, “Not Waving but Drowning,” by Steve Smith, and “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman all built around the sadness theme----Death