Understanding Symbolism
The following discussion/activity should take place toward the end of a larger unit on
poetic language.
Part I: Defining Symbol
Today we’ll take on another facet of poetic language: the symbol.
Focusing Questions:
 When is the word symbol employed in common usage? To what does it refer? [Note
etymological roots: “to put together”; “mark,” “token,” “sign,” in reference to Greek
agreement coin]
 What is a symbol in literature? How does it work? [representing something else – a
metaphor unmoored – or standing for something more than it seems to be]
 How is a symbol related to a metaphor? What’s the difference between a symbol
and a metaphor? Between a symbol and an image? What are some similarities?
 How absolute is the interpretation of symbols? How much control does a writer have
over his reader’s associations his symbolic choices?
Sandburg: “They All Want to Play Hamlet”
 Who is they? Why do they want to play Hamlet?
 What does Hamlet represent for them? For what is that role a symbol?
 Why are all actors sad?
 How much do you have to know about Hamlet to understand the poem? How much
does Sandburg provide/control?
Part II: Interpreting Symbols
Symbols come in two types: traditional and untraditional.
Focusing Questions:
 What are the differences between these types of symbols? Can you give examples
of each? [hand around encyclopedia of symbols]
 Why is it important to be aware of objects’/activities’ traditional significance? How
can a symbol’s traditional significance impact its effectiveness in a poem?
 How is the significance of untraditional symbols defined? How do we learn what they
mean?
Activity: Using Stevens: “Anecdote of the Jar,” Ammons: “The Yucca Moth,” and
Merrill: “The Furnished Room” students will work in groups to determine
1) their sense of the symbolic significance of each poem’s title element – its
local, specific, contextual significance – and
2) how the traditional symbolic significance of the poem’s title element should
impact our interpretation of the poem’s meaning. Main concern: How does a
reader’s knowledge of the traditional symbolic significance change his/her
understanding of the poem’s speaking self? Teacher provides the traditional
meaning of these symbolic elements (taken from the dictionary of symbols
handed around previously) in sealed envelopes, to be opened only after the
first question has been effectively answered.
One poem per group. Presentation and discussion follow.
Focusing Questions:
 What did your group determine to be the symbolic meaning of the poem’s title
element?
 What is the traditional meaning of the poem’s title element? Did that meaning work
with or against the meaning you had already determined?
 What in the poem justifies the application of the traditional meaning? What thwarts
that application?
 Ultimately, which meaning is better suited to this poem – the traditional symbolic
significance or the poet’s non-traditional constructed significance? What is the poem
about?