Year 8 English​

Symbolism
 Definition
Symbolism is a literary device that uses objects
or elements to communicate or represent
something beyond their literal meaning.

Symbols can be used to enhance a theme, idea,

or character.

In daily life, we are surrounded by symbols that

are given meaning because of their common
use.
2
 Why do author’s use symbolism?
- To create meaning or help readers to develop an understanding of
complicated concepts or themes
- To convey ideas subtly (rather than explicitly stating them)
- To create a mood/feeling/emotion in a story
- Symbolism often leaves room for interpretation, which allows the
reader to bring their experience to the story
- Symbolism can help readers to form mental connections between ideas.

Presentation title 3
 Common symbols in
everyday life
• Can you guess what the following symbols
represent?
• White
• Rings
• Roses
• Lambs
• Owls
• Rainbows
• Fire
• Rain
• Handshakes

Presentation title 4
 Answers:
White — a symbol of purity. You might associate this with brides wearing white, if you’re in the Western
world.
Rings — a symbol of love and commitment, given during proposals and exchanged at weddings.
Roses — associated with romantic love.
Lambs — innocence: this is a type of religious symbolism from the Bible.
Owls — the owl is often associated with wisdom or with education.
Rainbows – long seen as the universal symbol of hope (and again, this has religious origins). More
recently, the rainbow has been prominently used as an LGBTQ symbol of affirmation and inclusion.
Fire — another complex and even ambivalent symbol. Fire can symbolise destruction, passion, or rebirth
(as in the legend of the phoenix, reborn from flames).
Rain — sadness and melancholy but also purification and cleansing, even a metaphorical “washing
away” of the past.
Handshakes — a symbol of trust, used in greeting but also to seal an agreement. Handshakes can also be
a symbol of congratulations and, in some powerful instances, to signify peace after a fight or even a war.

Presentation title 5
 Famous examples of
symbolism in literature
• In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, the animalian
symbols attached to each Hogwarts house add dimension
to characters in that house. Slytherin, whose symbol is a
snake, foreshadows the devious and sometimes
malicious nature of many of the students in that house.
• Spring is a symbol of rebirth, renewal, and new
beginnings in many works of literature, for example, in
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
• In Macbeth, blood is used as a symbol of guilt, and
characters imagine blood that cannot be removed from
them to represent how their guilt is affecting their
subconscious mind.

Presentation title 6
 Some examples of symbolism in The Hunger
Games
The Mockingjay Fire
• The Mockingjay represents • Fire comes to symbolise
defiance in the novel, with the Katniss’s spirit in The Hunger
bird’s symbolism deriving
initially from its origins. Games – her temper or her
‘inner fire’.

Presentation title 7