【正文】 j ect s, char act ers, set i ng, and act i ons—can be sym bol i c if t he aut hor wi shes t o make it so by ei ther hi nti ng or insisti ng t hat the m at er i al m eans mor e than it l it era l y does. Sym bol s are suggested t hrough special tr eat ment such as im ager y, r epeti ti on, connot ati ve l anguage, or ot her art isti c devi ces. I n F. Scott Fit zger al d’s novel The Great Gat sby, a huge pai r of bespect acl ed eyes star es acr oss a wi ldnes of ash heaps fr om a bi l boar d adver ti si ng t he ser vi ces of an ocul ist. Repeat edl y appear ing i n t he st or y, t he bespect acl ed eyes e t o m ean m or e t han sim pl y t he avail abi li t y of eye exam inati on. A char act er i n t he st or y pares it t o t he eyes of God。 he hi nts t hat som e sad, pasi onate spir it i s brooding as it wat ches t he passi ng pr ocesi on of hum anit y. Such an object is a symbol: i n li ter at ure, a sym bol i s a t hi ng t hat ref er s or suggest s mor e than it s li t er al m eani ng. Ther e ar e qui te a l ot of sym bol s t hat appear i n or di nar y li f e, f or t he use of sym bol 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 i s t he sym bol of a count ry, and t he cr oss is t he sym bol of t he Chr i sti an r el igi on. These ar e sym bol s adopt ed by a whole soci ety and ar e recogni zed by al l m em bers of such a soci et y. There ar e other ki nds of sym bol s, such as f i gur e 3, whi ch may be abst r act sym bol s. But sym bol s i n li ter at ur e wor ks ar e dif f er ent f r om eit her of t he ot her t ypes. General y speaki ng, a li t er ary symbol does not have a m on soci al acceptance, as does t he fl ag。 f or inst ance, the ways sent ences are connect ed. This i s the i nternal anizat ion of a t ext . Under context , r oughl y the m at eri al , mental, personal , inter act ional , social , i nst it uti onal, cult ural, and histor ical si tuati on in whi ch the di scourse i s made, we consi der t he external relat ions of the l it er ary t ext or a part of the t ext, seeing i t as a discour se pr esupposi ng a soci al r elati on bet ween it s par ti cipant s (author and r eader, char act er and character, char act er and r eader , et c. ), and a shar ing of knowledge and asumpti ons by par ti ci pant s. Cohesi on: Does t he text contai n logical or ot her l inks between sent ences (eg coordi nat ing conjunct ions, linki ng adverbi al s), or does i t tend to reply on i mpl icit connecti ons of m eaning? What sort of use i s m ade of cross ref er ence by pr onouns ( she, it , t hey, etc) , by subst it ute f orm s (do, so, etc), or el ipsis? I s there any use made of el egant var iat ion—t he avoi dance of repeti ti on by substi tuti on of a descri pti ve phr ase ( as “t he old l awyer ” subst it ut es for the r epet it ion of an earl ier “Mr Jones”) ? Ar e meani ng connecti ons r einf or ced by repeti tion of wor ds and phr ases, or by r epeatedly usi ng words f rom the same semant ic fi el d? Context: Does the wr it er addr ess the r eader dir ect ly, or through t he words or thoughts of som e fi cti onal char act er ? What l inguisti c cl ues (eg f ir st person pronouns I, me, my, mi ne) a re there of t he addr esser addressee r elati onship? What at it ude does t he aut hor i mply towards hi s/ her subject ? I f a char act er ’s wor ds or thought s are r epr esented, is t his done by dir ect quotati on, or by some other method ( eg indi rect speech, fr ee indir ect speech)? Ar e t her e signif icant changes of styl e wit h r espect t o dif fer ent persons (nar ator or character ) who is supposedly speaki ng or thinking the wor ds on the page? What i s the point 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 voice is t he nar r at or speaki ng? Chapter Seven Sym bol What i s sym bol ? Symbol, i n the sim pl est sense, anythi ng that st ands f or or represent s somet hing else beyond it—usual y an i dea convent ionaly associ ated wi th i t. Obj ect s li ke fl ags and crosses can f uncti on sym bol ical y。 he hi nt s that som e sad, passionat e spir it is br oodi ng as it watches the pasi ng pr oc ession of humanity. Such an obj ect i s a sym bol : in l it eratur e, a symbol is a t hing t hat r ef ers or suggests mor e t han i ts l it er al meani ng. There ar e quit e a lot of symbol s that appear in or dinary l if e, f or the use of symbol is by no means of l imi ted t o li te r at ure 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 t he cr oss i s the symbol of t he Chri st ian r el igi on. These ar e symbol s adopt ed by a whole society and ar e recogni zed by al l members of such a societ y. There ar e other kinds of symbols, such as f igure 3, whi ch may be abst rac t symbols. But sym bol s in l it eratur e works ar e dif fer ent f rom ei ther of the other types. General ly speaki ng, a l it er ary symbol does not have a m on social aceptance, as does t he fl ag。 they point, t hey hi nt, or, as Henr y James put i t, t hey cast long shadows. Sym bol ism The t erm sym bol ism ref er s t o t he use of symbols, or to a set of rel at ed sym bol s, whi ch i s one of the devi ces t hat enri ch shor t fi ct i on and pensat e for it s bri efnes i n space. 2. There are t wo broad t ypes of l it erary sym bol s Symbol is gener al y acknowl edged t o be one of t he m ost f r equent l y em pl oyed devi ces i n poet ry. I n works of fi ct i on i t is no l es f r equent and no l es im port ant . The fact i s t hat, 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 the l anguage used, so t hat t he sym bol s ar e automati cal l y backgrounded on t he r eader’s par t. But i n som e novels and st or