This is my favorite part of teaching English! We will be moving past the superficial reading of a story and delving into something much more satisfying and rewarding. I'm talking about symbolism. You will learn about the symbolic significance of colors, animals, weather, seasons and much more during the course of the year. This page will be dedicated to some of the most common symbolic objects found in literature. It's time to "think outside the book."
Colors
Red: love, death, blood
Blue: sadness Green: envy, greed, money Purple: royalty Yellow: happiness, cheery White: innocence, purity Black: death, evil Washing Hands
Symbolic of a character who did something wrong and wants to "wash away" responsibility for their actions (usually bad).
Weather
Sunny: happiness
Cloudy: foreboding Rainy: cleansing Stormy: something bad Snowy: death |
Seasons
Spring: birth, renewal
Summer: youthful, carefree Fall: middle aged/contemplating life Winter: older/wiser Animals
Lamb: passive, innocence
Goat: evil-natured, satanic Dog: companionship Cat: independence Parrot: imitation Rabbit: freedom Mirror
In literature, mirrors often reflect a character's true feelings - good or bad. It serves as an introspective look at a character. If they look into a mirror and see a monster, they probably did something bad.
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