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Unit 3

Symbolism & Allegory. Unit 3. Honors English 9 Lecture Notes. Symbolism. What is a symbol? Often an ordinary object, event, person, or animal to which we attach unusual meaning and significance. For example: Skull and crossbones represents a symbol of danger or poison Red roses

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Unit 3

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  1. Symbolism & Allegory Unit 3 Honors English 9 Lecture Notes

  2. Symbolism • What is a symbol? • Often an ordinary object, event, person, or animal to which we attach unusual meaning and significance. • For example: • Skull and crossbones • represents a symbol of danger or poison • Red roses • represents a symbol of love • Lion • represents a symbol of power and courage • Crown • represents a symbol of royalty

  3. Symbolism • Where do symbols come from? • handed down or inherited over time • invented by someone or something • For example: our school symbol – dawg print / Scottie head • However, we may not know the origin of many symbols, including common ones. • Writers often take a new object, character, or event and make it the embodiment of some human concern.

  4. Why use symbols? • Why don’t writers just come right out and say what they mean rather than using symbols? • Symbols allow writers to suggest various types of meanings. • Sometimes, literal statements can’t explain what something means on the same level that a symbol can. • Symbols may also allow for creativity and imagination. • You may remember the symbols, even long after forgetting parts of the story.

  5. Allegory • What is an allegory? • An allegory is a story in which characters, settings, and actions stand for something beyond themselves. • There is a literal meaning AND a figurative or symbolic meaning. • For example: Poe’s “Masque of the Red Death” • Characters and setting of a story may represents abstract ideas or moral qualities. • Prince Prospero = name given to a man who is prosperous • Characters and situations may stand for historical figures and events. • Seven colored rooms = seven deadly sins, stages of life, etc. • The Red Death = The Bubonic Plague / Black Death • Allegories are often intended to teach a moral lesson or to make a comment about goodness.

  6. Application of NovelGeorge Orwell’s Animal Farm • Review: Orwell was a critic of both capitalism and communism. • Review: Orwell is mostly remembered as an advocate of freedom and a committed opponent of communist oppression. • His two greatest anti-totalitarian novels—Animal Farm and 1984—form the basis of his reputation. • Animal Farm deals with similar themes as what you saw in 1984, but in a shorter and somewhat simpler format. • Animal Farm uses animals on an English farm to tell the history of Soviet communism. Certain animals are based directly on Communist Party leaders. • The pigs Napoleon and Snowball, for example, are recreations of Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky, respectively.

  7. Application of NovelGeorge Orwell’s Animal Farm • Written in 1943-1944 (London) • Published in 1946 • Genre: Animal fable / Dystopia through symbolism & allegory • Setting (place): an imaginary farm in England • Setting (time): an unspecified time period • It is fair to assume, however, that Orwell means the fable to be simultaneous with the object of its satire, the Russian Revolution, which began in 1917. • Communists overthrew the Russian Tsar (king) through a civil war. The Russian king was considered to be cruel by many; therefore, making Communism appealing. *Communism promoted economic equality and a classless society.

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