Symbolism: Objects, Places, and Spaces Honors English 9 Wlodarczyk/Spear

Law #2 of Reading Novels: The Law of People and Things Characters are revealed not only by their actions and their words, but also by the items that surround them. Objects provide the concrete, tangible images that allow readers to grasp the abstract workings of a character as well as key ingredients of a story. Source: Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Novels Like a Professor. New York: HarperCollins, 2008.

Law #3 of Reading Novels: The Law of Bogus Locales Places in a work of fiction are never real but must behave as if real. Even real places are added to, modified, limited, or falsified to fit the work. And places almost always work figuratively to enhance the novel. Source: Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Novels Like a Professor. New York: HarperCollins, 2008.

Socratic Circle If, then, objects and places are more than they appear and reveal critical information about characters, explain how the art room and the janitor’s closet are symbolic. Discuss both the author’s descriptions of the rooms as well as the objects that the author places within them. Inner circle: “Sanctuary” Outer Circle: “Burrow”