Character Analysis
Lesson 6 - Symbolism
In books, the things that the author mentions again and again are the ones that they really want you to notice, the ones that are critical to understanding the essence of the character and the story. Things that keep coming up are also windows we need to look into.
As readers, we need to pay attention to the recurring parts of a book. They tell us something meaningful about the characters and the story. We need to not only notice them, but we need to push our thinking to figure out why the author included them.
Let's look at some examples of symbols in our everyday life.
You try it. What is the meaning of these symbols. Remember, you will need to make a copy and save it in your reading folder.
Think about the story Shells. The shells are symbols. The shells are symbolic of outgrowing old ways and coming into new ways of life; we will "outgrow" many "shells" in our lifetimes. Aunt Esther outgrew her shell of being selfish and afraid to let people in to her life. Michael outgrew his shell of dealing with his parents death and learning how to be happy again.
Now, you try it. Use the story, A Bad Road for Cats, and the symbols in books link to list some symbols and their meaning. Remember, you will need to make a copy and save it in your reading folder.
You can read for the remainder of the time. Do not forget to do an entry in your - Keeping Track of my Reading.