Monday, September 22, 2008

Symbol Blog

According to Poe, every literary element in a story should be directed to achieve " a certain single effect."

Choose any symbol from the stories we have read, and:
  1. State it's meaning
  2. Impact-effect on the story
  3. Effects on Theme

22 comments:

Isaac said...

In the story "Masque of the Red Death", a plague appears as a masked man. Since the prince and his company is sequestered, the plague has to be in disguise. The mask is supposed to hide the true face of death. What the nobles are trying to do is escape from death. But the fact that the stranger finds them is the main message that death is inevitable. The fear this induces is central to the story. Another would way to say it would be the prince got what he deserved for deserting his people.

Alex said...

In "The Masque Of the Red Death", the ebony clock is a symbol for time ticking until death. The people at the ball listen to its chimes ring 12 times until the Red Death enters the room. By using the clock, Poe puts more suspense in the story. It makes the reader think what will happen next. Using this symbol also shows that time will eventually end for every one and it is inevitable to stop death.

Unknown said...

The story, The Masque of the Red Death a symbol in the story is the clock. The clock means time and in the story, the clock strikes midnight and the red death strikes then. A clock is a device to tell you what time it is. A clock won’t stop because of something that you want to hide, it keeps on going. But before that, the people who “lock” themselves inside a party are just wasting time and not getting ready until the red death strikes. The clock just ticked and until it was time and the people were trying to avoid it. You couldn’t avoid the red death and there is no way, if time keeps on moving, then you can’t do much. The clock puts an effect that, you should use your time wisely and not spend it on a lock up thing. You should use the time to do anything you want and show that nothing can stop you. Once your time is up, it’s done!

matt said...

In Through the tunnel a boy is on vacation with his mom and one day he finds a bay with an under water tunnel. This tunnel symbolizes the "tunnel" from boyhood to manhood. The boy attempts to pass the tunnel multiple times and fails every time. The day before he has to leave he finds the biggest rock, swims out in the bay and gathers all his courage, drops down and swims through the tunnel, making him feel like he has gone from being a boy to being a man.

FitretY said...

A symbol from one of the works of literature we have read is the masked figure in the Masque of the Red Death. In the story, the greater meaning of the masked figure, or what it stood for other than itself was death, and more specifically the Red Death. The impact of the masked figure on the story is that it brought death to Prince Prospero and his subjects who had thought that they had outmaneuvered their fated deaths. It brought them death even when they had finally believed themselves to be untouchable, and unable to be affected by the Red Death. The effects of the masked figure on the theme was extremely important. Without the masked figure the reader would have been lost as to what the author of the story was trying to communicate to them. The masked figure represented death, and brought death to those who had feared death and had thought that they could outrun their fate, and remain untouched by death. Therefore the theme of the story became that no one could outmaneuver death, that it was a part of life, and that none of us could escape it.

john said...

In the story "Through the Tunnel", the beach symbolizes so much more than a place to relax to the main character Jerry. The beach symbolizes childhood. It is a place where his safety is insure. Also his mother constently inquires to Jerry to see if he is all right. This impacts Jerry because he does not want to be seen as a child anymore. He wants to go where the men are; the bay. The theme is affected by the beach because it furthers Jerry's quest told manhood by his unwantal to go to the beach with his mother

will said...

In "The Rat Trap", the peddler sells rat traps. He figures out that the need for material things is like a rat trap. The symbol of a rat trap foreshadows that maybe the peddler will be sucked into his "Rat Trap" view of life. This symbol relates to real life by people constantly wanting more and not being content with what they already have. This "Rat Trap" eventually sucks the reader and the peddler into a suspenseful take on life.

Unknown said...

In the story "Through the Tunnel" the tunnel means something much deeper than a thrill to a young boy. The tunnel represents the travel from boyhood to manhood. The boy is no longer sheltered by his mother. Throughout the whole story the boy stuggles to swim through the tunnel. Meaning he is struggling leaving the comfort of his mother. But in the end he over comes his fears and swims through the tunnel entering manhood.

Nick said...

Through the Tunnel by Doris Lessing, had several different symbols but the one that stood out the most was clearly the tunnel it self. When Jerry first goes to the new bay he sees it as an experience away from his mother and on his own, the beginning of his independent grown up life. When a group of boys come and play on the bay as well and fined a tunnel which each one is able to pass through, Jerry sets his entire vacation on training himself to go through that tunnel. Since the boys were older then Jerry he saw the tunnel as the path from childhood to manhood. The training that Jerry put himself through was very strenuous to his body and to his morals but he kept to his goal and was able to accomplish it. This affected the theme because instead of: Sometimes in life there tasks that you must accomplish to move yourself on to different stages in your life. It became something similar to: Sometimes in life challenges are set forth for you to accomplish and no matter how strain it puts on your physical and mental being you not except failure.

j.rose said...

In the story "Through the Tunnel, the tunnel is much more than a passage for Jerry. The tunnel is an adventure Jerry must overcome, to become a man. The tunnel is more of a passage between childhood and adulthood. Jerry practices for multiple days to swim through the tunnel. After many failed tries, Jerry finally makes it through the tunnel. After doing so, Jerry has become a man.

Unknown said...

In the story "Through the Tunnel", the tunnel symbolizes much more than what it actually is. It symbolizes a passage from not having enough courage to do something, to being able to collect yourself and do it. It impacts the story because at first the boy doesn't have the physical strength and endurance to go through the tunnel, but after a few days of training he is able to. It represents the passage of not being able to do something, to being able to do it.

Abz Gingrande said...

In the story "Through the tunnel", the tunnel symbolizes rebirth and identity.Jerry needs to belong, to feel accepted, and he feels as though he will only be accepted by successful passage through he tunnel. Jerry finally reaches his goal: successful passage through the tunnel. Jerry does not tell anyone that he swam through the tunnel, demonstrating that he does not need to be congratulated or accepted by the older boys; a feeling he once longed to achieve.

Anonymous said...

In the story "Through the Tunnel" a boy see some local by swimming in a bay. He decides the leave the beach to got o the bay. The beach he leaves represent safety and childhood. Throughout the story the boy always looks back to see if he can see his mother on the beach,and he can. He feels bad but at the same time it motivates him. It effected the theme by saying, sometimes in life you will have to leave something that is safe and familiar (the beach)to achieve a goal that you have (making it through the tunnel).

Unknown said...

The Story The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Alan Poe takes place in a ball where people are celebrating to distract themselves from whats really going on which is death. One main symbol is the ebony clock. The ebony clock chimes every hour and the people at the ball become uneasy and quiet. Each chime means they are getting closer to death and their lives are ending. When the clock strikes 12, the black death strickes them and everyone is dead. Edgar Alan Poe fills the reader with suspense because although the clock chimes every hour, you dont know how many chimes its going to take till everyone dies. Using the symbol of the ebony clock shows that time will eventually end and death is unstoppable.

mirrorbender said...

In "The Masque of the Red Death", a prominent symbol was the ebony clock. The clock represents the countdown to death. This is very relevant to the theme of the story, which is how it is impossible to outrun death. The clock's continuous ticking and ominous chiming on the hour are representative of how you can't stop the clock from ticking your life away. The idea of an ebony clock ticking and chiming in a mysterious dark room with red windows is somewhat creepy, and it contributes to the suspense and fear factor of the story, both with it's physical form as well as what it symbolizes. It adds another deathly element to an already morbid story that is focused on the nature of life and the inevitable passing into death.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
William Gould said...

In the short story through the tunnel the sea and the bay were strong symbols used by the author. In the story, the bay symbolizes safety and security a place where the boy could have sanctuary while the sea represented the unknown and danger. As the boy grew tired of the “bay” he looked out to the “sea” or acceptance. The sea and by symbols both and had great impact on the story through the tunnel and related back to the over all theme that sometimes in life people grow bored of the know and look ahead to the unknown.

Cherag said...

In "Through the Tunnel" by Doris Lessing, it is the tunnel that truly symbolizes rebirth and identity. Jerry knows that even if he goes through the tunnel and achieves the feeling of being grown up, he still wants to be with his mother because she is all that he has.

Alex Worcester said...

I chose the symbol of the red death as my symbol for this question. It symbolizes fear and terror and of course death. Because of the Red death the people are locked away in the castle. Also because of the Red death the people die in the end of the book. The Red death affects the theme because the theme is everyone’s life has to come to an end sometime. He enforces this by killing everyone in the castle. The Red Death is a symbol used by Edgar to enhance the story.

Alex Worcester said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe said...

In the story "Through the Tunnel" Jerry's vacation showed us many symbolic and important objects. The largest symbol was the journey through the tunnel. His journey represented his change from being a boy, to being a man. In this story, the theme is that sometimes in life, you feel that you must do something to prove yourself worthy of growing up. Having the trip through the tunnel as a symbol, that theme is able to be advanced, clarified, and emphasized. In "Through the Tunnel" the symbolism really advances the theme.

q said...

In the story "Through the Tunnel" by Doris Lessing the beach represents childhood and safety. It impacted the story by representing the difference between the rocky cove and the beach. If the beach had not been there it wouldn't have been as important for Jerry to make the switch from boyhood to manhood by going through the tunnel in the cove. If there was no beach the theme of the story would change as the theme of the story relies on the switch from boyhood to manhood, which requires that the beach represent boyhood.