As high school English teachers, it is our job to get our students to think more deeply about the texts we read together. In fact, on the AP Literature exam, students are often tasked with writing about the complex ideas of a text. Yet, it is often difficult for students to move into this world of complexity. This is why teaching symbolism in high school English is so vital.
Our students have no trouble moving into character complexity with just a little guidance, so why is it so hard to get them to identify and analyze symbols in literature? It boils down to encouraging students to notice things that could be symbols.
What is Symbolism in Literature?
Symbolism is when one thing represents something other than itself. It is something that must make sense both in a literal and non-literal way. I like to tell students that it exists as a thing and more than a thing.
I start by teaching symbols. Give students an anchor chart that shows images of common symbols in their lives: a flag, a peace sign, a dove, etc. We talk about what each of these things actually are and then what they represent in our world. This gets them thinking about what symbols are in general. Then we move to discussing symbolism in literature. We often use these symbolism anchor charts.
Ideas for Teaching Symbolism in Literature
Because symbolism is an abstract concept, when I am teaching symbolism, I usually try to make it more concrete, so here are some ways that I teach symbolism.
Symbol Index
This is one that I actually got from my own high school English teacher back in the dark ages (okay, it was the late ‘80s, but who’s counting?). When we read The Catcher in the Rye, she asked us to go back into the novel and find all the references to the red hunting hat and write down the page numbers. I don’t honestly remember what we did after that, but that put me in the mode of tracking recurring images any time I read a text for a course (whether as a student or as a teacher).
To get my students started, I often cue them into what they should be looking for. So for The Catcher in the Rye, I might suggest the look for the red hunting hat, the duck pond and Allie’s catcher’s mitt.
If they are using books that they cannot write in, I give them an index card as a bookmark or put a larger sticky note (I like 3×5 for this) in the back cover of their books. If they can write in the book, then, I encourage them to use those blank pages as the back of the book. Or if it is a book that I have printed for them, like Hamlet, I might give them a page that is already part of the text for this.
Symbolism Ladder
A symbolism ladder works off the metaphor of climbing a ladder. I got this idea from one of my Social Studies teacher friends. She uses this to connect one historical event to another. When I am teaching symbolism, I use this metaphor to start with the literal meaning, build evidence to the symbolic meaning.
On the base rungs, you have what the object is (its literal meaning) and on the top rung, students identify how it is symbolic. On the rungs in between, they include evidence to support that move from literal meaning to symbol’s meaning.
Symbolism One Pager
One Pagers are one page documents that students use to process an idea. They include color and images and quotes from the text.
In a symbolism one pager, students should use word art to identify the symbol, draw it and then include evidence from the text to support its symbolism.
Teaching Symbolism in High School English
If you are loving these ideas and would like to learn more about teaching symbols, be sure to get on the waiting list for my new course: The Power of Symbols: Teaching Literary Symbolism and Archetypes in High School English.
Related Reading
Teaching Allusions in Literature in High School English
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The Power of Symbols: Teaching Literary Symbolism and Archetypes in High School English
