A symbol is a picture or object that

A symbol is a picture or object that stands for something else.

*Camping *Recycling *Direction

*Courage *Peace *Love

*Spring: Rebirth, New life, Hope *Fall: Ending, Dying *Winter: Death, Sleep *Summer: Happiness, Life (Not as frequently used) *

*White: Goodness, “The right side”, the hero *Black: Evil, the villian *Red: passion, love, anger *Blue can mean tranquility, peace, sadness, and in some cases fear. *Yellow can mean spring, like turning over a new leaf, sunlight or light, happiness *Greens and browns can be used for nature, peace, and to give off a sense of hospitality, *Browns alone: are used in images of deserts which would symbolize a’ death in nature. ’ *

*Water can be religious, like baptism, it can mean purification, *Or it can even mean death (in instances like drowning). *If the writer of the story takes time to mention an element of water look and see how it is used. Does it sound negative or positive? Does it sound peaceful or violent? *

*Fire can represent anger, passion, love, pain or death. *It is a symbol used in some cases for rebirth or new life. *Think of the phoenix from mythology or even from fantasy books, fire for the phoenix is used as both a weapon and a form of rebirth when the bird bursts into flames and a baby phoenix is born from its ashes. *

*Night can be used to represent an ‘end of the road. ’ It can represent peace or tranquility or it can be as simple as death *Day: the rising of the sun represents new life and light. It can be the new beginning for characters or an opportunity for starting over. Day is often used to describe things out in the open *Things in the light are generally safe, but things in the dark can be susceptible to danger. *

*Light: Truth, enlightenment, safety, or it can be used as a holy image. Light can stand for the side of ‘good’ in a novel or ‘power. ’ *It is used to overpower evil or even bring forth knowledge to a character or the narrator. *Darkness: symbols for darkness and hiding, meaning the character may be lying about something. *Darkness can be symbols for death, or the Grimm Reaper, or Angel of Death. * See if a character is in the shadows, literally, does the author describe a character as lurking the shadows or have pieces of their body or face obscured? *