The Scarlet Ibis

The Scarlet Ibis/The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind

Literary Analysis: Symbolism and Allegory

A symbol is a person, a place, a thing, or an event that represents both itself and a larger idea or feeling. Symbolism is the use of symbols in literature. For example, a writer might use a journey as a symbol for the life of a human being.

Literary Analysis: Symbolism and Allegory

An allegory is a poem or story that has parallel literal and symbolic meanings. On the literal level, the story appears simply as it is told. On the symbolic level, however, every element in the story—including the characters, events, descriptions, and features of the setting—has a symbolic meaning. While an allegory can be understood on the literal level, its full meaning is clear only on the symbolic level. Often, allegories may seem less realistic than nonallegorical works, and they may shed light on current events.

Open Ended

That summer, the summer of 1918, was blighted. In May and June there was no rain and the crops withered, curled up, then died under the thirsty sun.

What is symbolic about the weather in this passage?

Open Ended

For a long long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain.

How is the symbolism in this passage related to a central theme or insight in the story?

Open Ended

And on every night of the year the inhabitants of the Town of the Kite could hear the good clear wind sustaining them. And those in the Town of the Wind could hear the kite singing, whispering, rising, and beautifying them.

How does this outcome suggest the moral lesson to be drawn from the allegory in this story?

Multiple Choice

In “The Scarlet Ibis,” why does the narrator rename his little brother Doodle?

• People expect too much of someone named William Armstrong.

• The little boy does not like to be called William Armstrong.

• The little boy crawls backward like a doodle-bug.

• Doodle is an old family nickname.

Multiple Choice

What prompts the narrator to show Doodle the coffin?

• The narrator thinks that Doodle will find it amusing.

• He intends to shut Doodle up inside the coffin as a joke.

• He has a cruel streak that surfaces occasionally.

• He wants to impress on Doodle how surprised they all were that Doodle survived.

Multiple Choice

In literature, what is the correct term for a person, a place, a thing, or an event that represents both itself and a larger idea or feeling?

• allegory

• epic

• symbol

• simile

Multiple Choice

What is the main lesson of the relationship of the two brothers in “The Scarlet Ibis”?

• how to appreciate a brother or sister

• how to design a lying contest

• how to teach someone to walk

• how to tease a brother or sister

Multiple Choice

Who or what is the main symbol in “The Scarlet Ibis”?

• Doodle

• death

• the scarlet ibis

• the seasons

Multiple Choice

In “The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind,” how do the townspeople eventually respond to rebuilding the wall over and over again?

• They become weak or ill, and many die.

• They enjoy the competition between the two towns.

• They build walls during the day and run their farms and businesses at night.

• They rebel and refuse to build any more walls.

Multiple Choice

In “The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind,” how does the daughter help her father and Kwan-Si see the solution to the problem?

• She forces them to eat a meal together and be friendly.

• She gives each one of them a kite to fly.

• She takes them outside to see how kites and the wind go together.

• She makes them talk to some children who are flying kites.

Multiple Choice

Why may “The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind” be called an allegory?

• The story has a happy ending.

• The story has a remote, exotic setting.

• The story has parallel literal and symbolic meanings.

• The story includes several elements of fantasy.

Multiple Choice

Which is the best comparison of “The Scarlet Ibis” and “The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind”?

• Both stories are told from the first-person point of view.

• In both stories, the main character may be described as cruel.

• The titles of both stories contain important symbols.

• Both stories use dialect, or regional speech, in the dialogue of the characters.

Multiple Choice

In which story (or stories) does the main symbol represent a specific person?

• in “The Scarlet Ibis”

• in “The Golden Kite, the Silver Wind”

• in both stories

• in neither story

Multiple Choice

Which line most clearly indicates what the scarlet ibis symbolizes?

• At that moment the bird began to flutter, but the wings were uncoordinated. . . .

• Its long, graceful neck jerked twice into an S, then it straightened out, and the bird was still.

• Even death did not mar its grace, for it lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers....

• For a long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain.