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and wor ds ar e also symbols. (P. 218. Oxf ord Concise Di ctionary of Li ter ar y Term s. ) A symbol is a t hi ng that suggest s mor e than i ts l it er al m eaning. I t exist s widely even i n our dai ly l if e. Our l anguage it sel f i s symbol . The dai ly gr eet ings indi cat e that the pasage of m uni cat ion i s open. Ring is a symbol of et er nit y. The s ign of cross indi cates atonement. The Bi g Ben sym bol izes London, the Gr eat Wal China. Rit ual isti c act s are symboli c. I n church wedding t he bri de is handed over fr om t he fat her t o the gr oom . Hol y eati ng is symboli c of m uni on, bapti zi ng cleansi ng and rebir th. The rai si ng and loweri ng of a nat ional fl ag cer tainl y suggest meanings l ar ger t han the acts t hemselves. And fi nal ly t oasti ng and shaking hands on for mal or i nfor mal occasi ons. As r het ori cal devi ce, symbol i s dif fer ent f rom metaphor , which i s li teral ly f alse but f i gur at ively tr ue. Unl ike al egor y, whi ch represent s abst ract erms li ke “l(fā) ove” or “t r ut h, ” symbols ar e per cept ibl e obj ect s. I n l iter at ure al most anythi ng—par ti cul ar obj ect s, char acters, set ti ng, and act ions—can be sym bol ic i f the author wi shes to make it so by eit her hi nt ing or i nsi st ing t hat t he materi al means mor e than i t li teral ly does. Symbols ar e suggest ed thr ough speci al t reatm ent such as i magery, repeti ion, connotat ive l anguage, or other ar ti st ic devices. I n F. Scot t Fi tzgerald’ s novel The Gr eat Gatsby, a huge pair of bespectacl ed eyes star es acr oss a wi ldnes of ash heaps f rom a bil lboard advert ising t he ser vi ces of an oculi st . Repeatedly a ppear ing i n t he st or y, the bespectacled eyes e t o mean mor e than sim pl y t he avail abi li ty of eye exam inati on. A character i n the stor y par es it t o the eyes of God。 i t is, rat her, a symbol the poet or t he wri t er adopt s f or t he pur pose of hi s/ her wor k, and i t is t o be under st ood onl y i n t he context of t hat wor k. It dif f er s fr om t he kind of sym bol i l ust rat ed by t he fi gure 3 because i t is concr ete and speci fi c. A poet or a wr it er uses sym bol s for t he same r eason he/ she uses sim il es, met aphors, and i mages, etc: t hey hel p t o express hi s/ her m eani ng in a way t hat wil l appeal t o t he senses and t o t he em ot ions of the r eader. Most sym bol s, i n li t er at ure and everyday li fe as wel l, posses a t r em endous condensi ng power . Thei r focusi ng on t he r elati onshi ps bet wen t he vi sibl e (audi ble) and what hey suggest can ki ndl e i t i nt o a single i mpact . Of cour se, i n li ter ar y wor ks, sym bol s, unli ke t hose i n or di nar y li fe, usual y do not “st and f or” any one m eani ng, nor f or anythi ng absol utel y def i ni te。 f or i nst ance, the ways sent ences are connect ed. This i s t he i nt er nal ani zat i on of a t ext . Under cont ext, r oughl y t he m at eri al , mental, personal , int er act ional , soci al , i nst it uti onal, cult ural, and hist or i cal si t uati on i n which t he di scour se i s made, we consider the exter nal r el at i ons of t he l it erar y text or a par t of t he text, seei ng it as a di scourse presupposing a social rel at ion bet wen i ts part ici pants ( aut hor and r eader, character and char act er , char act er and r eader, etc.) , and a shari ng of knowl edge and assum pt i ons by part ici pants. Cohesi on: Does t he t ext cont ai n l ogical or ot her li nks bet ween sent ences (eg coordi nati ng conj unct ions, l i nki ng adverbi al s) , or does it t end to r epl y on i mpli ci t connecti ons of m eaning? What sort of use i s made of cross r ef er ence by pr onouns ( she, it , t hey, et c), by subst it ute f orm s ( do, so, etc), or el i psis? I s ther e any use made of el egant vari at i on—the avoi dance of r epeti ti on by substi uti on of a descri pti ve phr ase ( as “t he old l awyer ” substi t ut es for t he r epet it ion of an ear li er “Mr Jones”) ? Ar e meani ng connecti ons r ei nf or ced by r epeti ti on of wor ds and phr ases, or by repeat edl y usi ng wor ds f r om t he same sem anti c fi el d? Context: Does t he writ er addr es t he reader di rect l y, or t hr ough t he wor ds or t houghts of som e f icti onal char act er? What l i nguisti c clues ( eg f ir st per son pr onouns I, m e, m y, mi ne) ar e t her e of t he addr eser addr esee rel ati onshi p? What at ti t ude does t he author im pl y t owar ds hi s/her subj ect ? If a charact er’ s wor ds or t houghts ar e r epr esent ed, i s t hi s done by di r ect quot at i on, or by som e ot her m et hod ( eg i ndir ect speech, f r e i ndi r ect speech) ? Ar e t her e si gni fi cant changes of st yle wit h r espect t o di f er ent per sons ( nar r at or or character) who is supposedl y speaki ng or t hinking t he wor ds on t he page? What i s the poi nt of view of t he st ory? Ar e t he fr equent shif t s of poi nt vi ew? If so, i n whose voi ce is t he nar r at or speaki ng? Chapter Seven Sym bol What i s sym bol ? Sym bol, i n the sim pl est sense, anyt hi ng that st ands f or or r epresent s som et hi ng else beyond it—usual y an i dea conventi onal l y associ at ed wit h i t. Obj ect s l i ke f l ags and cr osses can f uncti on sym boli cal l y。, but an i sl and of r ef uge f rom sl eepl ess ni ght, chaos, l oneli ness, ol d age, t he m eani ngl esnes of li f e, and im pendi ng deat h. I n som e novels and st or ies, some character s ar e s ym bol i c. Such char act er s usual l y appear bri efl y and remai n sl ight ly m yster ious. I n Joseph Cor nar d’s Heart of Darkness, a st eam shi p pany t hat hi res men t o wor k in Congo m ai ntains i n it s wait ing r oom t wo wom en who kni t black wool—they symboli ze t he clasi cal Fates. Such a char acter is seen as a por tr ait rat her t han as a pe