Select a text from the genre you wish to work with. Identify symbols in that work and how, taken together, they help reinforce an important theme in the text. To do so, look for the traits of the symbols, such as appearance, behavior, color, historical significance, and so forth. Be sure that you will be able to both identify and define, with detail, what these traits are and provide specific examples to back up your claims. (You will need to provide an explanation of your conclusions and evidence to support it in your essay.)
You will need to do research for this paper and must include a minimum of five symbols to prove your case – better essays will find more than that, but the symbols must together support the same theme. As discussed in the resources you have available, these symbols can include objects, gestures, lines of dialogue or lyrics or detailed (but not wordy) descriptions of particular characters, scenes, or actions. In some cases, similes and metaphors can provide symbolic meaning. While the majority of the essay must be your own ideas rather than simply reporting what other people believe, you should use at least three outside scholarly sources to back up your claims. Any works that are cited must be documented using MLA style.
