Symbolism Concepts

Choose the correct symbolism definition when used as a literary device:

• To use different kinds of notation, like musical notes or mathematical symbols

• To give objects a new meaning that is different from their original meaning

• To write in a language that uses symbols, like hieroglyphics or letters

Which of the following (4) "literary devices" are used by authors in their works in order to develop symbolism?

• allegory

• simile

• setting

• allusion

• metaphor

An "allegory"...

• compares two subjects, asserting that one thing is the other, or is a substitute for the other thing.

• is a work of art, such as a story or painting, in which the characters, images, and/or events act as symbols.

• is a literary device used to reference another object outside of the work of literature.

• is an explicit comparison between two unlike things through the use of connecting words, usually “like” or “as.”

• is a comparison between two things.

An "analogy"...

• compares two subjects, asserting that one thing is the other, or is a substitute for the other thing.

• is a work of art, such as a story or painting, in which the characters, images, and/or events act as symbols.

• is a literary device used to reference another object outside of the work of literature.

• is an explicit comparison between two unlike things through the use of connecting words, usually “like” or “as.”

• is a comparison between two things.

An "allusion"...

• compares two subjects, asserting that one thing is the other, or is a substitute for the other thing.

• is a work of art, such as a story or painting, in which the characters, images, and/or events act as symbols.

• is a literary device used to reference another object outside of the work of literature.

• is an explicit comparison between two unlike things through the use of connecting words, usually “like” or “as.”

• is a comparison between two things.

A "metaphor"...

• compares two subjects, asserting that one thing is the other, or is a substitute for the other thing.

• is a work of art, such as a story or painting, in which the characters, images, and/or events act as symbols.

• is a literary device used to reference another object outside of the work of literature.

• is an explicit comparison between two unlike things through the use of connecting words, usually “like” or “as.”

• is a comparison between two things.

A "simile"...

• compares two subjects, asserting that one thing is the other, or is a substitute for the other thing.

• is a work of art, such as a story or painting, in which the characters, images, and/or events act as symbols.

• is a literary device used to reference another object outside of the work of literature.

• is an explicit comparison between two unlike things through the use of connecting words, usually “like” or “as.”

• is a comparison between two things.

Which of the following excerpts from Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” provides an example of symbolism?

• I shall be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and ages hence

• I doubted if I should ever come back.

• Then took the other [road], as just as fair, / And having perhaps the better claim, / Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Consider the following lines from William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 12:

When I behold the violet past prime,

And sable curls all silvered o’er with white;

When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,

What do the images of a violet past its prime, sable-colored hair that is now white, and trees that are barren of leaves symbolize?

• Old age and the passage of time

• Springtime and new life

• Royalty and purity of life

• These images symbolize nothing, bruh