【正文】 ns—can be sym bol i c i f t he aut hor wi shes t o make it so by eit her hi nti ng or i nsi st i ng t hat he mat er ial means m ore t han it li t er al l y does. Sym bol s are suggest ed t hr ough speci al t reatm ent such as im ager y, r epet it ion, connotati ve l anguage, or ot her ar ti st ic devices. I n F. Scott Fi tzgeral d’ s novel The Gr eat Gatsby, a huge pair of bespectacl ed eyes st ar es acr oss a wil dness of ash heaps f r om a bil l boar d advert isi ng t he ser vices of an oculi st . Repeat edl y appeari ng i n t he stor y, t he bespect acl ed eyes e t o m ean m or e t han si mpl y t he avai l abil it y of eye exami nat i on. A character i n the stor y par es it t o the eyes of God。 he hi nt s t hat som e sad, passi onat e spi ri t is br oodi ng as it wat ches t he passi ng procesion of humanit y. Such an object i s a sym bol : i n li ter at ur e, a sym bol i s a thi ng that ref er s or suggest s m or e t han it s li ter al m eaning. Ther e ar e qui te a l ot of sym bols t hat appear i n or di nar y li f e, f or t he use of symbol is by no m eans of li mi ted t o li ter at ure and art . For i nst ance, a dove is a symbol of peace, t he fl ag is t he sym bol of a count ry, and the cr oss i s t he sym bol of t he Chri st ian r el i gi on. These ar e sym bol s adopt ed by a whol e societ y and ar e r ecogni zed by al l mem bers of such a soci et y. Ther e are ot her ki nds of sym bol s, such as fi gur e 3, which m ay be abstr act sym bols. But sym bols i n l it er at ur e works ar e di f erent fr om eit her of t he other types. General y speaki ng, a li t er ar y sym bol does not have a m on social acceptance, as does t he fl ag。 for i nstance, t he ways sentences ar e connected. Thi s is t he int er nal or gani zati on of a text. Under cont ext, roughly the mater ial, ment al , per sonal, i nt eracti onal, soci al, insti tut ional , cul tur al , and hi st ori cal sit uat ion i n which t he di scour se is m ade, we consi der t he ext er nal r elati ons of t he li terar y text or a par t of the t ext , seeing i t as a di scourse pr esupposing a social rel at ion between i ts part ici pants (author and reader , character and char act er , char act er and r eader, etc.) , and a shari ng of knowl edge and assum pt ions by part icipants. Cohesion: Does the t ext contain l ogical or other li nks bet ween sentences ( eg coor dinati ng conj unct ions, l inking adver bial s) , or does it t end t o r epl y on i mpli ci t connect ions of meani ng? What sor t of use i s made of cr oss r efer ence by pr onouns (she, i t, t hey, et c), by subst itut e for ms ( do, so, et c), or el li psi s? Is t her e any use m ade of elegant var iati on—t he avoidance of r epet it ion by subst it ution of a descr i pt ive phrase ( as “t he ol d l awyer ” substi tutes f or the r epeti ti on of an ear li er “Mr Jones”) ? Are meani ng connect ions r ei nfor ced by r epet it ion of wor ds and phr ases, or by r epeatedly using wor ds fr om the sam e sem ant ic f ield? Cont ext : Does t he wr iter address the r eader di r ectl y, or t hrough the wor ds or thought s of some f i ct i onal char act er ? What l inguisti c clues (eg f ir st person pr onouns I, m e, my, mi ne) ar e there of t he addr esser addresse r elati onship? What at ti tude does t he aut hor i mply towar ds hi s/ her subject? I f a char act er ’ s words or thoughts are represent ed, is this done by dir ect quotati on, or by some ot her met hod (eg i ndi rect speech, fr ee indi rect speech) ? Are there signi fi cant changes of styl e wi th r espect t o dif fer ent persons (nar ator or char act er ) who i s supposedly speaki ng or thinki ng the wor ds on the page? What i s the poi nt of view of the story? Ar e t he fr equent shi ft s of poi nt vi ew? If so, in whose voice is the nar at or speaki ng? Chapter Seven Symbol What i s symbol ? Symbol, in the sim pl est sense, anythi ng that st ands f or or r epresent s somet hi ng else beyond it—usual y an i dea convent ional ly associ at ed wi th i t. Obj ects like f lags and crosses can functi on sym bol ical y。 he hi nts t hat som e sad, passionate spir it i s br oodi ng as it wat ches the passi ng procesion of humanit y. Such an object i s a symbol: in lit eratur e, a symbol is a thing t hat r efers or suggests m ore t han its lit eral meani ng. Ther e ar e quit e a lot of sym bol s that appear in or dinary lif e, for the use of sym bol i s by no means of l im ited t o l it er ature and ar t. For instance, a dove is a symbol of peace, t he fl ag is t he symbol of a count ry, and the cross is t he sym bol of the Chr ist ian r el igi on. These ar e sym bol s adopt ed by a whole soci ety and are recogni zed by al l member s of such a society. Ther e ar e other ki nds of symbols, such as f igure 3, whi ch may be abst ract symbols. But symbol s in l it eratur e works ar e dif ferent fr om ei ther of the other types. General y speaking, a l iter ary symbol does not have a m on social aceptance, as does t he fl ag。 t hey poi nt , they hi nt , or , as Henr y Jam es put i t, t hey cast l ong shadows. Symboli sm The t er m sym boli sm r efer s to t he use of symbols, or t o a set of rel at ed sym bol s, whi ch i s one of the devices that enr ich short fi cti on and pensat e f or i ts br ief ness i n space. 2. There are t wo broad t ypes of li t erary sym bol s Symbol is gener al y acknowl edged t o be one of t he most f r equent l y em ployed devi ces i n poet r y. I n wor ks of f icti on it i s no l ess fr equent and no l ess im por tant. The f act i s that, when a r eader r eads a wor k of fi ct i on, his f ocus i s mostl y cast upon the pl ot , t he char act er, and t he l anguage used, so t hat he sym bol s are aut om at ical y backgr ounded on t he r eader ’s part . But i n som e novel s and st ori es, t he sym boli sm l oom s so lar ge