1. Writing Along The Color Spectrum
Reading Rainbows
Writing Along The Color Spectrum

2. Have you heard these terms?
Seeing red
Green with envy
Feeling blue
Yellow belly
Blacklisted
Tickled pink
What do these terms mean to you?
Why do we use colors in literature to symbolize other meanings?

3. What do colors symbolize?

4. Think of the following titles:
Why do authors select specific colors to give characters or locations psychological weight?
Think of the following titles:
The Orange Cat by Edgar Allan Poe
The Color Turquoise by Alice Walker
The Yellow Badge Of Courage by Stephen Crane
Snow Purple And The Seven Dwarfs by the Brothers Grimm
Would the stories found within these fictional novels be any
different from the actual correctly titled books?
How so?

5. Let’s add some color to the proceedings and shed some light on the issue.

6. The Red Badge Of Courage by Stephen Crane (1895)
Red is the warmest of all colors, but if it goes unchecked, the color can display anger or disgust.
Red is associated with fiery heat. It can also mean danger and signify intense burning, either real or imagined.
Red is the color of blood, and as such has strong symbolism for the vitality of life and the human instinct to survive.
Dark red is also the color of passion and lust.
Literary Example:
The Red Badge Of Courage by Stephen Crane (1895)
Widely considered to be one of the best pieces of American anti-war fiction, the
story follows a young soldier who runs away from a battle his regiment is fighting.
The soldier gets hit in the head accidentally and his wound becomes legendary
within the ranks as it is believed to have been battle-inflicted. With such an
impressive “leader” fighting alongside them, the soldier inspires others to fight
bravely on the battlefield until even the soldier himself finds the courage within.
Other examples: Little Red Riding Hood (a very sexualized tale of a young girl
lost in the forest), The Scarlet Letter (the color signifies sin and adultery)

7. Sir Gawain & The Green Knight, an epic poem of an Arthurian legend
Green is the color of nature and fertility.
The color contains the powerful energies of growth, desire to expand or increase.
Out of this desire come the all-too-human traits of jealousy and greed (the almighty dollar is this color).
Green symbolizes the need to be cunning, the ability to deceive others and the willingness to betray even the closest of friends.
Literary Example:
Sir Gawain & The Green Knight, an epic poem of an Arthurian legend
The narrative of this old English poem tells of one of the knights of the Round
Table who challenges a knight dressed and painted entirely green. The legend
follows the knight one year later who must appear before the Green Knight
once more to complete the challenge. Along the way, he is seduced
by a lady of the court, deceived by a kindly King, and persuaded to deny his
honor. The poem is a morality tale about the traps the Green Knight sets up.
Other examples: Othello (Iago’s treachery is forewarned with the immortal
line, “O Beware, My Lord of jealousy…it is the green-eyed monster which doth
mock the meat it feeds on”)

8. fairy-tale world she lives in.
White
Strictly speaking, white is not a color, but the manifestation of the presence of all color - the complete energy of light.
It stands for wholeness and completion.
It represents purity and truth.
White also has a cold quality and can symbolize innocence within a character or location.
Literary Example:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by the Brothers Grimm (ca. early 19th Century)
A fairy tale with European roots, it has been told in many countries and was part
of the Brothers Grimm collection. The version familiar in the United States is most
like the German rendition, which includes an envious evil queen/stepmother, a
poisoned apple, a talking mirror, abandonment in the woods, and seven helpful
dwarfs. All the while, Snow White exemplifies all that is pure and innocent in the
fairy-tale world she lives in.
Other examples: Tom Sawyer (the whitewashing of the fence symbolizes the
remnants of innocence prior to puberty), Moby Dick (the color of the whale
demonstrates a powerful energy that is hunted by others)

9. The Black Arrow: A Tale Of Two Roses by Robert Louis Stevenson (1888)
Black is the most misunderstood color.
Black symbolizes death in some literary works and evil antagonists usually dress in this color to personify their wicked motives.
Black is actually the absence of all color, absorbing all aspects of light.
While white reveals, black conceals. It has come to mean hidden, fearful or bad experience and is linked to the unknown or the unseen. Black can be mysterious, but also represents danger.
Literary Example:
The Black Arrow: A Tale Of Two Roses by Robert Louis Stevenson (1888)
A historical adventure novel set at the time of the War of the Roses, following
The adventures of Richard Shelton who longs to avenge the murder of his father.
At first, fiercely loyal to his own house, he suspects betrayal from within and aligns
Himself with a group of bandits whose calling card is a black arrow driven into a
Specific target, leaving a note for the intended soon-to-be-victim.
Other examples: The Black Cat (a mysterious feline figure could be a figment of
The author’s imagination), The Black Tulip (a tale of brutal murder and romantic
Love make the case against political tyranny and seek justice)

10. Yellow
Orange
While it appears bright and cheerful at first glance, the color yellow signifies darker undercurrents. It is used to show fear and cowardice in characters, and also symbolizes insanity or an unhinged mind.
Literary Example:
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1891)
A short story written in the first person as a series of journal entries. The narrator is a woman whose husband, a doctor, has confined her to the upstairs bedroom of a house he has rented for the summer. She is forbidden from working and has to hide her journal entries from him so that she can recuperate from a "temporary nervous breakdown” She begins to go mad, becoming obsessed with the pattern of the room’s wallpaper, picturing herself crawling with other confined women beneath it, never allowing herself to leave the room.
Orange means vitality with endurance. Orange offers a more thoughtful control than explosive red. Curiosity is a driving characteristic of orange, and with it comes exploration of new things. Orange symbolizes paranoia and sudden fits of violence.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962)
A novel set in a not-so-distant future that is told in the first person by the lead character, who is the leader of a band of thugs who revel in violent acts and creating mayhem in the streets of an authoritarian society. The main character, Alex, soon finds that his gang’s exploits are no match for the terrifying torture provided by the government, when he is captured and sentenced to “rehabilitation.”

11. Blue Purple Literary Example:
Blue is the calming color, but it also gives a feeling of distance. It can indicate sadness and depict horrible loss. But through the tears, it gives way to clarity, allowing an increase in outward perspectives.
Literary Example:
The Island Of The Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell (1960)
A children’s novel about a young girl who is marooned on an island for 18 years. She experiences the death of her brother and must take over the duties of survival as she waits for a passing ship to take her home.
Purple is the color of people seeking spiritual fulfillment. It is said if you surround yourself with purple you will have peace of mind. Purple has also been used to symbolize magic and mystery, as well as royalty.
The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1983)
Told from the point of view of letters, the novel tells of the hardships and perseverance of Celie, a black woman in 1930s rural Georgia. The title derives from a discussion about faith and the rekindling of Celie’s spirituality.

12. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
Not all literary works rely on the same symbolism between colors.
The novel we are about to read consciously assigns new, contradictory
symbols to colors we have learned about.
How does Fitzgerald play with conventions of color metaphors in “Gatsby?”
Examples:
Yellow (or gold) is symbolic of wealth and money. (This can be seen in the color of Gatsby's car.)
Green is symbolic of hope. (The Dutch who first settled New York saw the green of the land; Gatsby's hope for Daisy's love is seen in the green light at the end of Daisy's dock.)
White is a symbol of lack of morality and lack of virtue. (In the beginning, both Daisy and Jordan are dressed in white.)
Blue is a symbol of death. (The lawn around the pool where Gatsby was killed is blue.)

13. Works Cited http://crystal-cure.com/color.html
Howard, Adam,
Howard, Melissa, Little Red Riding Hood, Suite 101.com Aug. 8, 2007,
Joe, Jim, Timeless Myths,
Long, Bill, Othello, The Moor Of Venice, 2004