REVISING FOR CONTENT AND DEPTH OF UNDERSTANDING
ABOUT SYMBOLS:
Symbols are objects, people, or events that are connected to ideas shared by a culture or by a group of
people. The correct forms of the word are
symbolism (the use of symbols)
symbol
symbolic (the adjective describing symbolic value)
symbolize (the verb form for things/people that stand for symbolic value)
Do not use other forms of the word (symbolify, symbolization, symbolicness, etc.)
Author USE SYMBOLISM, EMPLOY SYMBOLS
Characters/objects/events SYMBOLIZE, have SYMBOLIC meaning, or they are SYMBOLIC in nature.
-Video on symbolism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXJUq4kdGAE
-Video on elementary archetypes (hero, villain, etc.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaivpNssqVA
-Video series of “How To Read Literature Like a Professor”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI6Ioat8l3U&list=PLlB4m_c6U7VKunAhEipF3SMxIGuBsPAZN
-How to do a close reading:
http://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/how-do-close-reading
-Close reading of a poem:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adXdTXEzmzE
STATEMENTS & EXPLANATIONS
The author uses symbolism (object symbolism, character symbolism, symbolism of setting) to connect
_________ with the theme of ____________
The character is connected to symbols such ____________________.
The accrual of symbolism results a the theme of __________________.
The (direct characterization, indirect characterization) recalls the archetype of the (hero, the fool, the
divine intrusion on reality, the grail quest, the mentor, the supernatural aid, etc) and thus gives the reader
insight into _____________ about the character.
As the the character _________, readers may infer a theme of _____________
The _______________ of the characters illustrates _________________
The story’s _______ foreshadows ___________
The narrative’s (exposition, rising action, climax, fall action, resolution, denouement) corresponds with
other tales of ___________ wherein __________.
The first paragraph of _____________ presents a ________________ view of ______________
As the narrator informs the reader, when _____________________, this (foreshadows, establishes,
employs, invokes, instructs) the reader to connect _______________ with _____________ later in the
narrative.
The key symbols in the story reinforce its main theme: _____________________
The text demands that the reader ________________
When _____________ writes ______________, he/she implies _______________.
As the character “_________________,” he/she ________________.
__________________ description of _________________ present a setting that is
____________________.
The _______________ establishes a very important ________________
The "________________________” (environment, setting, action) suggests that
______________________.
The (type of figurative language) used to describe __________________ tells us that (name of character,
tone, mood, atmosphere) is ________________.
EVIDENCE AND CONNECTIONS
When “______________” foreshadows _____________ later in the story, readers may note the author’s
concern with _________________.
The ________________ symbolism connected with ________________ is repeated later as
________________.
The repetition of __________________ implies the author’s concern with __________________.
The _________________ alludes to ___________________ in the (story, parable, tale, historical event)
wherein ________________.
Throughout the narrative the presence of ____________________ creates the larger (theme, impression,
paradigm) of __________________.
The _______________ point of view allows the reader insight into __________________.
The (specific character’s action) is a ________________ attempt to (describe interpretive reading).
Example: The boys find the grinding ball, but later attempt to bury it. Burying it is their futile attempt to
make time stand still and to preserve perfection.
When “(description of character’s action),” the reader becomes aware of (interpretive statement about the
character’s typology or role). Ex: When he gives the girls "that sad Sunday-school-superintendent
stare," the reader becomes aware of Lengel‟s character as the A & P's version of a dreary bureaucrat
who "doesn't miss much" (487)