Summary Chap 17 Litrature Book

This reading talks about symbol, Allegory, and myth. A symbol can be a person, object, action, place, or an event that takes place in a story. There are different types of symbols, for example universal or archetypal, and conventional. Examples of universal and archetypal symbols are the Old man, the Mother, or the Grim Reaper. Conventional Symbols, for example could be how roses suggest love. Both these symbols can fall into the literary symbols category. Literary symbols are symbols that take on addition meanings in particular words. When reading a story you have to search out these symbols that have meanings and significance behind them. Symbols expand the hidden meanings of the story, some aspects will keep reappearing and those may be some symbols.

An allegory tells the reader that there is a message or a moral principal that the characters are trying to pass on. An allegorical figure is a character, object, place, or an event which has just on meaning. That meaning is connected with allegorical framework which is the set of ideas that conveys the allegory message. Symbols may have many different meanings but an allegory will only have one meaning. One type of allegory is called a beast fable, this is a short tale which includes a moral and animals that assume human characteristics.

Myths are created throughout history by human beings, a myth would be a story that is central to a culture. Myths hold values on which culture the myth is coming from. One main type of myth is the creation myth. This myth is about how everything was created and it varies culture by culture. Each and every culture will have its own distinct creation myth and they each take different forms.

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