Journal Warmup Symbols What does an apple stand

Journal Warm-up: Symbols What does an apple stand for, in our society/ culture?

SYMBOL: The use of a concrete thing to suggest an abstract idea (something larger with greater meaning)

A concrete thing Something you can touch, see, or grasp. List some examples of concrete objects in your journals. Ex: A beach chair, grains of sand, a seashell

An abstract thing • Something you cannot touch. An idea or concept. • List some abstract things in your journals. Example: Love, Bravery

Symbols • A symbol may be an object, a place, a person, a color, a sound, a pattern, or sequence of action— anything that reminds us of something else. • Go back to your list of abstract things. Come up with an object for some of them that we use to represent that abstract thing. (example: for love, our society uses a heart)

Pick one quote and explain what you think it means…. Put your heads together and look up some new words! “Although we must develop a sensitivity to the possibility that anything unusual may be symbolic, we must refrain from concluding that everything unusual is symbolic. “ “A balance between sensitivity to the possibility of symbols and a common sense approach to the basic meaning if the text is the best guide. ” --Roland Bartel from “Metaphors and Symbols: Forays into Language”

Now, looking back… • Think of some symbols that may have been in The Giver, Al Capone Does my Shirts, or Wednesday Wars. What was the object? What might it have stood for?