In this essay, you will analyze the many levels of symbolism within a text.
Often in literary works, authors choose a physical object that takes on a special significance in the work and becomes a symbol of something beyond itself. Show how, in the work that you read, the author uses symbols to convey an important meaning. In your essay, focus on the symbols and what they symbolize in connection to the theme or overarching message of the story. Be sure to discuss how the author uses it to convey a message to readers.
Remember, a literary symbol can be interpreted in many ways, so your job as the writer of this essay is to identify how the symbol can be interpreted using text-focused evidence to convince the reader of the validity of that interpretation as well as discuss what the symbols mean in the context of the story (and, if applicable, outside the context of the story).
You should also identify why the author uses these symbols, the purpose of these symbols, and how they help connect to the overall purpose/theme of the story. Remember, you always need to contextualize your analysis with textual evidence to support your argument, otherwise it may appear as though you are discussing something you wish were in the text rather than what is actually there.
For this essay you will also do some outside research – you can use our library databases available from Harbor College: http://libguides.lahc.edu/library (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. to add extra depth and evidence to your analysis of the symbolism in these stories and/or sources available online. These can be sources to help define specific symbols and/or the story. Sources NOT allowed are: Wikipedia, eNotes, Schmoop, Sparknotes, a blog, etc. (sources cited in this essay must be from a published website, article, journal, etc).
There is also a student essay sample posted under “Files” for this assignment.
Analyze the use of symbolism in ONE of the following stories (the stories for this essay are posted under a separate file and most are ones that you need to read independently of the assigned readings):
“The Lottery” (Jackson)
“The Yellow Wallpaper” (Perkins Gilman)
“The Red Convertible” (Erdrich)
“The Things They Carried” (O’Brien)
“Battle Royal” (Ellison)
“The Cask of Amontillado” (Poe)
“When Engaging Targets, Remember” (Kovite)
Requirements to be eligible for an A or B paper:
4 – 5 pages
Arguable Thesis – discuss the theme of the story in connection to specific symbols evident
MLA formatted (5 points will be automatically deducted if your essay is not MLA formatted)
Use textual evidence to support your thesis – needs direct quotes from the story as well as at least TWO outside sources (sources such as Wikipedia, Schmoop, Spark Notes, eNotes, etc, will not be accepted as a credible source. You must find an article that has been published by a journal, newspaper, or magazine)
Works Cited page (5 points will be automatically deducted if your Works Cited page is not correctly formatted)
