ONLINE SYMBOLISM DICTIONARY

The University of Michigan sponsors a wonderful Dictionary of Symbolism online.  This is a great reference to share with students when you are reading a text that makes rich use of symbolism.  It's also great for having students research symbolism for their own writing or projects.  Because my senior-level British Literature class discusses symbolism is so many of its texts, I have a Shield of Symbolism project that my students creat during the first week of the semester.  Students search this website for symbols that represent their physical and emotional characteristics.  It's a great way to review symbolism while learning a little more about my students.  You could also put together a symbolism scavenger hunt (find one item that symbolizes death, for example).  You could also have your students create their own symbolism dictionary using wikispaces. Below, I'm embedding a sample screenshot of an entry located on this website.

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