symbolism+project

=Read this article on Symbols:=

Harnessing the Power of Symbols
By [|Amber Jayanti] You may not even realize it, but your life is shaped by symbols that are passed to you or inherited from your culture, your race, your peer and social groups, and your family. Newspapers, magazines, TV, and movies have a similar impact. Discovering how these symbols affect your life is essential to understanding how the tarot works. These symbols or //archetypes// — ideas or ways of thinking inherited from all these sources and present in your subconscious — are the models that you pattern your life after. Archetypes are embedded in your //subconscious// — the part of your mind that is free from conscious awareness. Here's an example: The picture symbol of an evergreen tree decorated with lights and other ornaments is an archetype for Christmas. Without consciously thinking about it, you are prompted to think of snow and Christmas presents when you see a picture like this. (And depending on your past experiences, you may feel anything from excitement and hope to depression and anxiety.) Archetypes send shorthand messages to your subconscious and conscious minds, which elicit varying responses.

Personal and impersonal (universal) archetypes
There are both personal and impersonal (universal) archetypes or concepts. Personal archetypes are based on your particular experiences whereas impersonal or universal archetypes are based on the experiences of humanity as a whole. The concept of a horse demonstrates the difference between personal and impersonal archetypes. If you say the word //horse// to one person, it evokes particular associations — images, thoughts, and feelings. One person may associate a horse with fun and freedom, while another (who has been thrown from a horse) associates it with fear and pain. These are personal archetypes. The impersonal, universal archetype — a symbol's mythical and/or culturally based meaning — exists in the collective unconscious. The universal archetypes associated with //horse// include honor, a rise in status, and spiritual or magical, mystical journeys to other worlds. When interpreting tarot cards, both personal and impersonal archetypes should be considered for a balanced perspective. One of the goals of tarot interpretation is bringing these perspectives together. Although archetypes of both types are powerful, they're not set in stone. Before the invention of the car, the universal archetype of a horse signified honor and status. Luxury cars now signify some of the same things horses once did. Personal archetypes obviously can change as you gain more experiences. If you're fearful of horses, being nuzzled by a foal while feeding her carrots can turn that fearful association around. Life is a set of pictures. When we change our worn-out associations with these pictures, we change ourselves and, inadvertently, the world around us! Personal and universal archetypes project ideas that can help you learn about how you should behave and what's important in life. For example, say that a young man keeps seeing the archetype of marriage on the screen of his life because one friend after another gets married. Soon he starts thinking things like, "All my friends are getting married. I'd better start dating more people so I can get married too." Or, conversely, "All my friends are getting married, but my parents got divorced. I'm not going to get married because I know it just leads to pain down the road." Archetypal patterns take root through duplication. If a symbol keeps bombarding you, it has a good chance of influencing your life. For instance, tattoos have come into fashion. You notice a coffee table book at a large bookstore featuring tattoo art from all over the world. The latest edition of your favorite music and fashion magazine features tattooed performers and models. Without realizing it, you find yourself admiring tattooed bodies at your health club. Your best friend gets a tattoo, and another is talking about designing her own. Because the image keeps coming at you — or //duplicating// itself — you may soon begin daydreaming about the kind of tattoo you'd like and where you'd put it.

Collective unconscious
Your subconscious mind is always receptive and suggestible. These traits make the subconscious mind very similar to what we call the //collective unconscious,// or the "mass mind." The collective unconscious is a collection of memories of all human experiences from the beginning of time. You and everyone else on the planet can tap into the collective unconscious, which is also receptive and suggestible. The subconscious is like a stream, and the collective unconscious is like a river: One flows into the other, and sometimes you don't know which is which. The subconscious and the collective unconscious wield influence over your life that you may not yet be aware of. Here's an example of how the collective unconscious might affect you. Movies, TV, newspapers, and books often suggest that dark haired, swarthy men wearing sunglasses and shiny suits are mobsters. Unless consciously challenged, this //collection// of thoughts becomes part of your personal subconscious. When your college roommate's father shows up for graduation looking like this archetype, you automatically starting thinking "mobster," whether it's true or not.

=View the PowerPoint on symbolism below:=

=Read this article on symbols=

Symbols and Stories
I think a lot of writers are automatically put off by the word //symbolism//. It's an idea a lot of people misunderstand, and to discuss the symbolism in a novel is--to some people--tantamount to announcing that the novel is difficult and likely very dull. "Oh, it's got //metaphors//," people groan. So I'm going to discuss symbols and symbolism and attempt to demystify this subject. I want to talk more about symbols in stories in the future, so this post is sort of an introduction to terms and general ideas.

A symbol is something that stands for something else. A stop sign is a symbol to drivers that they have to hit the brakes. A red cross is a symbol for a hospital. The color white means purity in some countries, mourning in others, death in yet others. In some cultures, lambs symbolize innocence. The '*' key on an adding machine means "multiplication." Et cetera. A symbol is one thing that stands in place of something else. We all use symbols, every day.

Symbols in literature fall into three types: simile, metaphor and allegory. Let's have a look at them.


 * Simile**

A simile is a statement that compares one object to another, using the word "like." //This thing is like this other thing// is the basic formula.

//His head is like a football// is a simile. Similes are the most common form of symbolism. They are also arguably the least creative way of comparing things, because they are the most obvious and prone to cliche. //His love for her was like a red rose// is a cliche. Excuse me while I yawn.


 * Metaphor**

This is the one that causes people confusion. It is essentially a simile without the word "like." The writer says that an object //is// another object, usually something not commonly associated with the first object:

//His head is a football.// //His love for her is a red, red rose.//

Those are lame examples (especially the love/rose), but I've already used them so I'm sticking with them. The thing about metaphor as opposed to simile is that metaphors can be extended, stretched, to deepen the commentary about your subject:

//His head was a football, hard and full of air. Real life was going to kick him into the goal on more than one occasion.// //His love for her was a red, red rose, splendid for but a few days and then falling apart, petal by petal.//

Metaphors can also represent things that aren't directly identified by the writer. This is where things get tricky. Suppose that you read a story in which every time a man told a certain woman that he was faithful to her, her candle would blow out. When it turns out that the man is NOT faithful to the woman, she is alone while he's off dallying elsewhere and her candle keeps going out. The flame going out becomes--through repetition in a single context--a symbol for his infidelity. This symbol is never apparent to the characters; it exists for the reader.

In my last book, the behavior of birds, singly or in flocks, mirrors the behavior of characters in the book. The condition of a garden represents the political situation (I stole that image from Shakespeare; thanks, old man!). In "The Lord of the Rings," the ring represents power which corrupts absolutely. The Ents personify nature lashing back at technology. The elven race, possibly, represents religion. Et cetera.


 * Allegory**

Allegory is a form of story where the characters act as stand-ins for other characters. Fables are frequently allegories, with talking animals standing in for types of people. "The Ant and the Grasshopper" is an allegory. "The Tortoise and the Hare" is an allegory. Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" is a retelling of "The Myth of Sisyphus," so you could say it's an allegory of a metaphor. The play-within-the-play in "Hamlet" is an allegory.

There is a special type of allegory called a //Roman a clef,// which translates literally as "novel with a key." Romans a clef are allegories about real people, and the identities of those people are kept secret to avoid things like libel suits. These novels include a "key"--a clue, basically--to let clever readers "unlock" the secret and find out who the real people being discussed are. Political figures are sometimes written about via roman a clef, though nowadays it's becoming rare.


 * Why use symbols?**

We use symbols for a variety of reasons. Similes are used primarily to describe things and people. Allegory is primarily used to teach a lesson (usually a moral one). Metaphor, the most slippery of symbols, has many uses. Metaphor can:

describe something in a poetic or lyrical way

be extended to add depth and dimension to the description

foreshadow events (in the love/roses example, if there are actual rose bushes in the story, they might catch a blight before the love story goes bad; or see the big storm in Act One of "Jane Eyre")

reinforce plot and character (the candle flame example, as well as all the references in "Hamlet" to poison and ears throughout the play)

bring out theme (in "The Overcoat," Gogol uses Akaky's overcoat to symbolize his place in society, and the treatment of his overcoat parallels the treatment Akaky receives).

All of this deepens the story, adding layers of meaning and understanding for the reader, even if the reader doesn't notice the symbolism (and maybe it's better if it's all subliminal anyway). Character, plot and theme can all be reinforced in subtle ways, so you aren't beating the reader over the head through repetition of dialog or events.

taken from http://literarylab.blogspot.com/2009/05/symbols-and-stories.html
 * Symbolism is sort of a magic trick that allows you to tell the story in several languages at once.** Don't be afraid of using it. If you make any use of symbolism (especially in a way I've neglected to mention here), tell us about it!

=What you need to do=

Process:
2. Second step, create a personal symbol or symbols for yourself. You will need to explain what it means to you and why you chose that symbol.
 * 1) First step, identify a symbol from anything we have read so far except Dr. Heidegger's Experiment. Identify what category it fits and explain its meaning in a literary analysis (this analysis should be at least 2-3 paragraphs). I've attached an example of some symbols from a Dr. Heiddegger's Experiment lesson we had earlier this week.

3. When finished place the symbols and analysis into a thread on the "discussion" area for your class only! Please add your first name and last initial so I know who posted, I can't determine who you are from your login user names. It may be easiest to paste images of the symbols you wish to use into your post or use the "paint" accessory in windows to draw your symbol and then paste it. A free and very impressive way to add your project would be to use http://www.slideshare.net/ and simply share the link as your reply.

Grade for each step (there are only 2 steps that are graded):
25 points= completed a step with less than 5 sentences of analysis, and/or you are missing an image, analysis may or may not include language or terms used in essay and slide show above.

35 points= completed a step with more than 5-7 sentences of analysis, and you included an image, but your analysis shows little or no use of the language and terms used in the slide show and essay above.

50 points= completed a step with more than 5-7 sentences of analysis, and you included an image, your analysis shows thought and incorporates the language and terms used in the slide show and essay above..