סמלים

A symbol 象征 is made, not found

• When a material object comes to represent, or stand for, an idea or concept, it becomes a symbol.
• Comes to is the working phrase: the object is not born symbolic.
• So the analysis has to show where in the text the object acquired its meaning.

A key is not a symbol just because a literature student spotted it; wait for the text to turn it.

Characters can be symbolic too

• When a character comes to represent, or stand for, an idea or concept, that character becomes symbolic.
• The CED adds that some symbolic characters are so common they are archetypal — and repeats its note: the exam will not require students to identify or label archetypes.
• So write about what the character represents, never about which archetype they are.

Write the middle band- 'is associated with' is defensible where 'represents' is not

Common symbols versus contextualised ones

• Certain symbols are so common and recurrent that many readers have associations with them prior to reading a text.
• Other symbols are more contextualized and only come to represent certain things through their use in a particular text.
• The second kind is where the marks are, because the text alone can prove it.

Meaning depends on reader and context

• A symbol can represent different things depending on the experiences of a reader or the context of its use in a text.
• So there is rarely one correct meaning, and an essay must argue for its reading rather than assert it.
• The context half is the arguable half: show what this text made the object mean.

A symbol pass

• Name the object or character, and the idea it comes to represent.
• Quote the place where the text attaches the two — usually a repetition or a scene.
• Say whether the symbol is common or contextualised, and argue the reading rather than assuming it.