You may recall that your main task is to theorize about the best potential symbols and how they connect to the most important themes in the book. Thus, you are writing a reflection-style article about symbols and themes.

Symbols

I know symbols are kind of hard to discuss and find, but once you get the hang of it, I think you’ll find it to be fun. Experts in literature do not have it all figured out – that’s why they love literature so much, there’s more to learn every time one discusses a great work. So the first thing you need to do when looking for symbols is trash the idea that you have to have your book “figured out.”

Instead, I want you to discuss “potential symbols.” You may not know know what the something greater is that the symbol stands for, but if you have read attentively, you will be able to recognize and identify something important, something that may be more significant than it seems at first. You created a list of potential symbols on the wikis, and in your article, I’d like you to extend further – to theorize not only what the most significant symbols are, but what you think they might symbolize. (That is, what is the something greater that your symbol stands for?)

Themes

Your important symbols will bring up ideas and conversations, and the topics of those ideas and conversations are likely themes to the book. Themes, you will recall, are main ideas and concepts explored in a work. What are the main ideas in your book? What questions does the book raise? You may either tie comments about theme into your comments about symbols, or you may tag a paragraph at the bottom of your article, after you comment about symbols.

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Image Attribution:

Original image: ‘walk‘ by: Rick Audet

Original image: ‘Questions‘ by: Tim O’Brien

How, though? How do you talk about setting for so long when usually all you have to do is answer the question, “What is the setting?” in four or fewer sentences? One way to talk about setting is to talk about every little tidbit of the setting, and that’s why your groups worked together to list everything you know about the setting in your book. On those pages, I already explained two strategies for extending your thinking:

1. Consider any changes in the setting and what happens in particular places.
2. Also consider how your book would be different if it took place somewhere else.

Those are two of my favorite strategies, and while you do that, don’t forget that setting is more than physical location – it’s also the time, including the time in history. So if I think about The Odyssey, I might consider what happens when the setting changes. For one thing, each time the setting changes, there seems to be a new obstacle for Odysseus to overcome. And if the book had taken place somewhere else – say, for example, the USA during the 1990’s – then Odysseus wouldn’t have been in a culture that cared about the gods and goddesses.

Other strategies for thinking about setting:

• How do the characters feel about the places (and situations the places are responsible for creating) in the story?
• Does the setting play a major role, or is it more of a background element?
• How does the author describe the setting? (In long descriptive passages? In short blips that let you know where and when things are happening?)
• Is the setting clear? If it is unclear, is it unclear for a particular reason?
• What kinds of attitudes do the characters possess as a result of the setting? (For example, if the book is set in Alabama in the 1940’s, chances are the white people would possess significantly racist attitudes towards black people.)

Those questions are not intended as a checklist, but as a help to get you thinking about setting. 250 words is a lot more than the four sentences you’d like to write, but you are very capable of doing it. If you get stuck, please reopen the conversation with your group’s members to see if, together, you can generate more thinking and insight about setting.

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Image Attribution:

Original image: ‘Grand Street: Texting‘ by: Mo Riza

Original image: ‘The Land of Ghosts‘ by: Peter Bowers

That is why I like to assign this particular writing challenge, where you pretend one of your characters is a student here at Central and decide how that character would fit in.

I’d like you to consider a main character in your book – a round character, which, you’ll remember, is many sided and has both faults and virtues revealed. While I realize many of your characters are adults, do not let that stop you. Simply pretend that they are your age (but with all the same characteristics they have in the story).

Then, pretend your character has now begun to attend Central High School. Please describe to me what she would be like if she were here at Central. With whom would she be friends? What would she be like in class? What would your reaction towards her be? Consider everything you can and paint a picture for me of what your character would look like as a student in our class.

As you write, remember to reference the story. That is, if you say your character would be a loud-mouthed class clown, defend your claim with an incident or detail in the story that makes you confident you’re right. Also, realize that many of your characters are dynamic – you may want to reference their changes in your character sketch.

Please write your entry to be, minimum, 300 words in length.

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Attribution:

Original image: ‘Student in Class‘ by: foundphotoslj

In another sense, though, it’s not that easy, because you want to predict well, to make logical sense; you want to predict the future based on what you know from the present, not separate from it. If a weatherman came on TV and told us it was going to be 98 degrees tomorrow (Dec. 15), we wouldn’t believe him unless he could explain what he’s seeing in the present that makes him think it will be so hot. Or, to jump into the sports world, if an ESPN analyst predicts that BHSU is going to win the NCAA Tournament in March, we’d think he was a looney who should be fired, because his prediction ignores the current information that suggests otherwise.

All that said, how do you make your predictions legitimate, and how do you stretch them out to 250 words? The key is to base your predictions off what you know so far. You’ve read a quarter of your book, so explain what you know, and then project from there.

There are two basic ways to organize your article. One is to say, “These are some key things that have happened so far” and list them. Then, having said those things, you transition to a batch of predictions: “Having said those things, this is therefore what I think will happen.”

Another way to organize this article is to explain and predict one element at a time. This would be like saying, “Here is one detail I’ve read so far, and here is what I predict will happen, given that detail.” From there, you move to the next detail, and so on: “Here is another detail I’ve read, and what I think will occur based on that detail.”

Still having trouble understanding how to arrange it? Maybe this diagram of those two ways of writing will help you.

One important tip I want to mention is that you do not want to over explain what you know and end up summarizing everything you’ve read for us. That’s boring for us to read, especially for the people in your group who have read the same thing and are well aware of what happened. The point of your article is to predict, not summarize. I would think that around half your article should be devoted to predictions and not explanation of plot events that have happened.

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Attribution:

Original image: ‘And We Have A Fast Moving Front Of Funky Grooves Approaching The East Coast…‘  by: Alex Erde

Original image: ‘let-me-out!‘  by: Esther Simpson