Symbolism and Allegory

1. Symbolism and Allegory vocabulary

2. Figurative Language • Definition: • Language that describes one thing in terms of another and is not meant to be understood on a literal level. • Common figures of speech include similes, metaphors, and personification. as a

3. Symbol • Definition • An object, a setting, an animal, or a person that functions as itself and as something more than itself, usually something abstract. • Example: • A lamp in the window is simply an electric light, but on a symbolic level, it may mean “welcome.”

4. Theme • Definition: • An idea or insight about life or human nature revealed in a work of literature.

5. Allegory • Definition: • A work of literature in which characters and places stand for abstract qualities, usually virtues and vices. • Sometimes the characters and places in an allegory have names that describe what they symbolize. For example, a character called Mrs. Angry and a place called Sea of Problems.

6. Fable • Definition: • An allegory in which animal characters who usually symbolize virtues and vices act out a story in order to teach a practical lesson about how to succeed in life. • Example: The tortoise and the hare. • A tortoise and a hare enter a race. The hare boasts about how he is faster, and therefore will win. The hare foolishly over-estimates his speed, and it ends up costing him the race.

7. Parable • Definition: • An allegory in the form of a brief story, which is set in the everyday world, and told to teach a lesson about ethics or morality. • Example: The Good Samaritan • This parable is about a man who has been severely beaten and left on the side of the road. The religious men pass by the beaten man and leave him on the side of the road. The Samaritan, an “enemy”, helps him.